Satyam appoints Deloitte as auditor, Damodaran on board

IT firm Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer) today appointed Deloitte as auditors, within days of CBI charging Price Waterhouse of complicity in the Rs 14,000-crore accounting scam.

The company also brought on board former market regulator M Damodaran, and former World Bank executive Gautam S Kaji.

"The board has also appointed Damodaran and Gautam S Kaji as members of the Audit Committee," the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

Deloitte Haskins & Sells, one of the two audit firms roped in by the post-scam Satyam Board to restate accounts, will vet the accounts of Mahindra group company for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 fiscals as statutory auditor.

The company, which was acquired by Tech Mahindra in April, has secured time until June 2010 from the Company Law Board to file financials, including quarterly results, in the aftermath of founder B Ramalinga Raju disclosing that he fudged accounts for years. He has since been arrested and is awaiting trial.

Deloitte is also the principal auditor of Tech Mahindra, which owns 43 per cent in Mahindra Satyam, as well as that of Mahindra group flagship firm M&M.

Ramesh Rajan, who was Price Waterhouse's India head, when the scam came to fore, has since stepped down.

The Mahindra Satyam board, while naming Vineet Nayyar as chairman, also agreed to settle the forgery related lawsuits brought by British Virgin Islands based Upaid, the company's former client.

The company further said, besides being the Chairman Vineet Nayyar would continue as a whole time director of Mahindra Satyam.

In his over 40 years of career, Nayyar had worked with the government, had a decade old association with the World Bank and was the founding chairman and managing director of HCL Corporation and vice-chairman of HCL Technologies.

Mahindra Satyam has also roped in former chairman Damodaran, who in his 30 years of experience also held various positions in the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Commerce.

The former market regulator was also the chairman and managing director of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and the Unit Trust of India.

While, Gautam S Kaji was the former managing director for operations of the World Bank with responsibility for Africa, East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia. He is currently the chairman of Contennial Group, a Washington based policy and strategic advisory firm.

Regarding the appointment of Deloitte as the statutory auditor, the company said, "It has considered various past non-audit services rendered by Deloitte and its affiliates to Mahindra Satyam and the steps undertaken to ensure Deloitte's independence for the assignment."