Sebi re-constitutes panel on disclosure, accounting standards

Markets regulator Sebi has re-constituted its committee which advises the regulator on issues related to disclosure requirements and accounting practices for various entities in the securities market.
The 17-member Committee on Disclosures and Accounting Standards will continue to be chaired by Tata Sons' Director (Finance) Ishaat Hussain.
Other members on the panel include Wipro CFO and Executive Director Suresh Senapaty, NSE Managing Director and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Director General AB K P Sasidharan and ICAI's P Vijay Kumar.
The expert panel also includes representatives from Sebi, Finance Ministry and Corporate Affairs Ministry.
The committee was set up in 2006, under the chairmanship of chartered accountant YH Malegam. It is mandated to suggest ways to the Sebi to improve disclosure framework for listed companies and accounting practices of various market entities.

Senior executives of Kotak Mahindra Capital, SBI Capital Markets, Jubilant Life Sciences, Mahindra & Mahindra and Deloitte Haskins and Sells and HDFC Asset Management Company, are also part of the panel.

The Bombay Shareholders' Association A K Bakliwal and Asish K Bhattacharyya, Professor and Head School of Corporate Governance and Public Policy at Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs are also members of the committee.
One of the major terms of reference of this committee is to advise Sebi on issues related to disclosure requirements in the offer documents, application forms, advertisements and other mode of mass communication by the issuers.

Besides, it also advises Sebi on issues related to the continuous disclosure requirements pertaining to listing of equity or debt of an issuer. The panel also has to advise Sebi on issues for addressing the operational and systemic risks, if any, in primary market.
The committee is further mandated to ensure "smooth implementation of accounting standards, statements, guidance notes and studies evolved by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to the extent that it pertains to disclosures in the capital market documents and for disclosures related to intermediaries".