SAT refuses to lift Sebi ban on Price Waterhouse
SAT allowed Price Waterhouse to continue the existing business till pendency of plea, but refused to grant stay on a two-year audit ban put in effect by Sebi
Mumbai: The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Friday did not grant relief to the Price Waterhouse (PW) network of audit firms on its interim plea seeking a stay on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) ban of two years.
However, as a partial relief, the tribunal allowed PW to continue the existing business till pendency of plea even of companies whose business cycle or financial year started January 2018 though PW cannot take any new business.
SAT also said the plea would be disposed of within six weeks. The matter would be heard next on 13 February.
“We are happy that SAT has expressed its intention to resolve our appeal against Sebi on an expedited basis, and has set an expectation of a tight timeline of six weeks to dispose the appeal. The clarification that current engagements can continue through the year, is welcome," said PW in a written statement.
Sebi on 10 January had banned all firms in the PW network from auditing listed companies for two years. Sebi found the audit firm guilty in the nine-year-old Rs7,136 crore Satyam Computer Services Ltd scam. In its 108-page order, the markets regulator said the firm was complicit with the main perpetrators of the accounting fraud and did not comply with auditing standards.
Following the ban, the audit firm filed an appeal in SAT on 17 January stating that remedial measures cannot take the form of a ban.
The petition also says that the Sebi order is not in line with the directions of the Bombay high court order of 2010.
In August 2010, the high court had ruled that no direction can be issued against PW if there is only some omission without proof of connivance and intent to fraud.
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