Satyam board appoints audit committee, intnl auditors

Talks on with banks and FIs for liquidity

The new Satyam Computer Services board today constituted an Audit Committee comprising T N Manoharan (Chairman), C Achuthan and S B Mainak (members). It has also appointed Brahmayya & Co, Chartered Accountants, Chennai as internal auditors of the company, with immediate effect. Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, have been appointed as legal advisors to the Board.

The newly-constituted board convened for the second time in six days to discuss the immediate action plans for the company. This is the first meeting following the decision of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ to nominate an additional three new members to this Board.

Till such time a chairman is appointed by the central government (in line with the directions of the Company Law Board), it was decided that one of the members of the board will chair the meeting, by rotation. Today’s meeting was chaired by Deepak Parekh.

The board also confirmed that the search for the CEO and CFO continues and that till such time these appointments are concluded, it will continue to meet on a weekly basis, to address ongoing issues. The board members reiterated that they are in touch with key customers and so far have not heard of deliveries being affected in any way. The board reaffirmed its confidence in its associates (employees) and their ability to continue delivering high quality work, as per the stated Service Level Agreements.

Addressing the issue of liquidity, the board confirmed it is engaged in discussions with banks and financial institutions. "The last week had seen definite improvements on ‘collections’ and this is expected to be a major priority for the business leaders and the Board, in the ensuing weeks. All efforts are being made to ensure that the associates (employees) are paid their salaries on time. Scheduling of vendor payments were also discussed," according to a company release.