ICAI asks Sebi to defer decision on annual results by 6 months

Accounting regulator ICAI has requested the Securities and Exchange Board of India to defer by at least six months implementation of its decision with regard to publishing of quarterly results by listed companies.

"Sebi has been requested to defer the applicability of the (Sebi's) decision by six months so that there is sufficient notice for not only the audit firms but also the listed entities to plan their affairs accordingly," ICAI President Amarjit Chopra said.

To improve transparency and corporate governance, Sebi on April 5 made it mandatory for all listed companies to publish their annual results within 60 days of the financial year end, reducing the timeline from the earlier 90 days.

The market watchdog had said the decision is aimed at streamlining submission of financial results by making it uniform and to reduce the timeline for submission of the same to the stock exchanges.

According to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), market regulator Sebi's announcement in April to reduce the timeline for publishing audited annual results and its applicability for the fiscal ended March, would create "undue pressure on both auditor and and/or auditee to complete the audit".

ICAI, however, welcomed Sebi's move, saying, "We are sure that these changes, as made by Sebi, will bring in uniformity in the reporting of financial results by all listed entities and would definitely be in the interest of all stakeholders. We fully support this move."

The institute also commended Sebi's decision to accept audit reports of only those auditors who have undergone ICAI's peer review process.