NFRA Begins Investigation into Rajesh Exports over Alleged Financial Misstatements

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has initiated its probe into the financial misstatement matter related to Rajesh Exports, the authority’s chairman Nitin Gupta said on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in Mumbai on Tuesday. 
 
“We are working on it. We have started our process,” said Gupta, while declining to specify any timeline on the matter.
 
The matter pertains to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) action against the gold refiner for discrepancies in financial statements to the tune of ₹15.15 trillion over a long period. In June, Sebi referred the matter to the NFRA for appropriate action against the company’s statutory auditors.
 
On queries on NFRA’s probe into the accounting irregularities in the derivatives book of IndusInd Bank, the chairman said, “The investigation may take longer also. It has multiple years involved, multiple auditors are involved. So, it is not a thing which you put an axe and it is done. It has to be in a systemic manner and we are doing that.”

Gupta further said that the NFRA can put guardrails to check any malpractices. It has already requested the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) for changes to the auditing standards — which he said are under the consideration of the ministry. CA Sansaar