Satyam scam: In setback to SEBI, SAT squashes ban on PwC; allows disgorgement of Rs 13 cr from auditing firm

Mumbai: In a major setback to SEBI, SAT Monday overturned the markets regulator’s order banning Price Waterhouse Coopers from auditing any listed company for two years for its role in the Rs 7,800-crore Satyam scam. However, Securities Appellate Tribunal or SAT partly allowed disgorgement of the Rs 13 crore fee from the auditor. The scam saw the Ramalinga Raju promoted company going belly up in January 2009.

Securities Appellate Tribunal quashes 2-year SEBI ban on @PwC as auditor in Satyam case. It says that the SEBI has no authority to look into quality of audit standards and audit services, adds that SEBI can only take remedial and preventive action pic.twitter.com/RKyxHY5c3W

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 9, 2019

Setting aside the ban on PwC, which is one of the Big Four global accounting firms, SAT said, only the national auditors’ watchdog ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) can take any action against its members and fraud cannot be proved on the basis of negligence in auditing. “SEBI has no authority to look into the quality of audit and auditing services. SEBI can only take remedial and preventative action. The direction issued is neither remedial nor preventive. But punitive,” SAT said. [caption id=“attachment_4254843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] If there was any dereliction of duties, it was on the part of the two partners for which the other 10 firms cannot be banned just because they have some resource sharing agreements, the tribunal added. However, it said there has been a breach of duty, therefore, the entire fee of Rs 13 crore can be taken back with interest from PwC. On 8 January, 2009, Satyam Computer Services founder-chairman B Ramalinga Raju had publicly admitted and confessed to large-scale financial manipulations to the tune of over Rs 5,000 crore in the company’s books. A SEBI probe, however, found the scam was much higher at Rs 7,800 crore. Soon after the admission, the government superseded the Satyam board and initiated a sale process, which in April that year ended TehMahindra taking over the company.