“All I can tell is (that) we are progressing and we are trying our best to conclude the matter (investigation into the Satyam fraud case) as early as possible,” he said in an interview to private television channel CNBC TV 18.
Pointing out that as a matter of policy the regulator does not talk about ongoing probes prior to an actual order, Bhave said, “We should wait for the order to be passed. It would shed a lot of light on what has been going on.” Sebi had ordered an investigation Satyam financial scam case after the company’s founder B Ramalinga Raju disclosed that books of accounts were doctored for the past several years.
Peer review
Besides Sebi, Ministry of Corporate Affairs had ordered a probe into the case by Serious Fraud Investigation Office which has submitted its report. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India too is also probing the role of auditors in the whole fraud. Replying to questions on peer review of accounts of companies to prevent Satyam like frauds, Bhave said, “the process is very much working, but it would be fair to say that we had underestimated the time that we will take to complete the process.”
The process, he added, took longer because “we had to make sure that there was no conflict of interest between the auditing firm which was supposed to do the review vis-a-vis the audit firm which audited account.”
“My disappointment is that people want to either condemn or declare this process as success prematurely. I think we should wait for the result”.
