Walker Chandiok failed norms: NFRA
NEW DELHI : Audit watchdog National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on Friday alleged that leading audit firm Walker Chandiok & Co. LLP was directly or indirectly related to some of the Grant Thornton entities, and that it offered prohibited non-audit services to audit clients in two instances. In an order issued after an inspection of Walker Chandiok & Co, NFRA said that firm has also failed in some of the norms relating to client acceptance and continuance.
Grant Thornton Bharat LLP (GTBL), Grant Thornton Advisory Private Ltd. (GTAPL) and Grant Thornton International Limited (GTIL) are ‘directly or indirectly’ related entities as per an explanation to a section of the Companies Act, the audit watchdog said. This provision—section 144 of Companies Act—prohibits an auditor to directly or indirectly render eight prohibited services to an audit client.
The explanation to this provision of the law defines the term “directly or indirectly" to include aspects like parent-subsidiary relationships, use of brand name or having significant influence. Some audit firms moved court challenging NFRA’s interpretation of the auditor independence-related provisions in the Companies Act in other cases. The audit firm has said that it has cooperated with NFRA and is committed to the highest standards of financial reporting.
“At Walker Chandiok we are committed to upholding the highest standards of financial reporting, believe in accountability and integrity towards stakeholders and significant professional responsibility entrusted on us. We have provided our response to the NFRA report, which is available publicly and confirm our position of not providing any prohibited non-audit services to audit clients. We support NFRA’s mission
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