INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Pavan BurugulaMUMBAI: The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by global audit firm Price Waterhouse (PW)
against an order by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in the Satyam Computer Services case
passed an order against Price Waterhouse in January alleging that the audit firm colluded with the management of the scamtainted Satyam in
fudging the accounts of the software firm
The regulator had passed an order against PW barring it from offering auditing services to any listed companies or Securities Market
intermediaries for two years.
Price Waterhouse had filed two appeals against Sebi in February
One of them was a plea to allow it to continue its audit activity until March 2020
Then, SAT had temporarily allowed PW to carry on its business until March 2019.
But, on Wednesday, the tribunal denied further extension
PW is preparing to challenge the SAT order in Supreme Court, said a person privy to the matter.
In response to an ET query, a Price
our application for extension to their period of interim relief on the SEBI order
The extension was sought to provide clarity on service continuity to our clients beyond 31 March 2019
for hearing on December 13.
The audit firm was represented by Mukul Rohatgi and Janak Dwarkadas while Kevic Setalvad was arguing on behalf
pronouncing the final order in the case
While the firm has already stopped taking-up any new clients, there are several existing clients being serviced by PW currently
However, majority of the companies finalise the auditors for financial year one quarter in advance.
