Infibeam Avenues sacks auditors for sharing unpublished price-sensitive information

New Delhi: E-commerce company Infibeam Avenues on Sunday said it has terminated services of chartered accountancy firm S.R.B.C & Co. LLP as one of the joint statutory auditors of the company on grounds of sharing of unpublished “price-sensitive information”. In a filing to the BSE, Infibeam said Shah & Taparia shall continue to be the statutory auditor of the company.

“The Board in its meeting held today (Sunday) has recommended subject to approval of regulatory authorities and shareholders, to terminate company’s joint statutory auditor S.R.B.C & CO. LLP (Auditor), on the grounds of sharing company’s unpublished price-sensitive information with personal e-mail accounts of their team and third-party on multiple occasions leading to breach of trust and loss of faith,” Infibeam Avenues said in the statement.

The company, on receipt of anonymous third-party information, shared its preliminary findings to the Auditor, which has been verified and confirmed by the Auditor pursuant to the internal investigation, it said. [caption id=“attachment_614708” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] “The Board was also not convinced on the Auditor explanations, processes and conduct leading to unauthorised sharing of company’s UPSI (unpublished price-sensitive information),” Infibeam added. It added that in the light of the above and in the interest of the firm, upon receiving approval from the board of directors, the company has issued a notice of termination to S.R.B.C. & CO. However, S.R.B.C. & CO has denied all the allegations levelled against it and said that it is open to an investigation. “We strongly deny the allegations against us. We have conducted a comprehensive investigation and stand by our findings. We are confident of our position and open to third-party/regulatory investigation and will respond to the regulators, as required,” it said. An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Infibeam Avenues has been convened on 30 May, 2019, for seeking their approval.