Whistleblower questions delay over filing Form 20F by Infosys; Pai responds

A letter from an anonymous whistleblower has questioned Infosys over delay in filing of Form 20F with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission containing the key financials and risks faced by the company, though a former chief financial officer of the company said that there is no breach of provisions as rules allow it to file the mandatory form by the end of July this year.

On Sunday, in a letter to US and Indian market regulators, the whistleblower has claimed that American Depository Receipts (ADRs) holders had to cast their votes on company's financial statements at its annual general meeting (AGM) held on June 23, 2018 without getting full information as Infosys didn't file the Form 20F with US SEC prior to the event.

Form 20F provides information regarding financial information of a company apart from the key risks faced by it.

However, TV Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys was of the opinion that there was no contravention of the rules as the company has time till July end to file the mandatory form.

"There is nothing wrong in it. The company has time to file the form. As such, there is no breach of provisions," Pai told Business Standard.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Infosys said the company wouldn't comment on this issue.

According to rules, a company has to file the Form 20F with US SEC within four months from the end of the financial year. As Infosys follows April-March fiscal year cycle, it has time till the end of July to file the necessary information with the US market regulator.  

This is not the first instance when an anonymous whistleblower has shot off a letter to market regulators questioning operations at the Bengaluru-headquartered IT firm. Earlier in April, in a similar latter, a whistleblower has questioned the decision of the company to sell Panaya.

"I request you to ask the Board of Infosys to fix accountability for this (Panaya) transaction and take action against people who had approved these transactions,” the whistleblower had written to the regulator in April this year. 

In the current letter, the whistleblower has claimed that Infosys, which usually files Form 20F between May and June, might have done it purposefully to hide any ongoing investigations.

"Typically a company delays its annual filing with SEC only when there is an ongoing investigation by SEC. Also, recently the erstwhile co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan resigned from the board without assigning any reason. The shareholders have to know whether there is any connection between these two events and are they related," the letter said.