India: Audit Standards under Review

Remember the following comments in my article ofJanuary 5, 2009:  Whistle Blowers and Barking Dogs

Which brings me to some anecdotal evidence...in 5 star hotel restaurants around Delhi/Gurgaon there have been many large teams sitting down to dinner together...many foreigners, some quite young. As I observed some of these dinners, it was clear that the foreigners were not the typical investment banker/private equity types..some of them looked geekish. It turns out that these teams are not scouting new investments, but have been sent to audit the value of their current investments...a result of the Raju debacle.

Now we have the following story, two months later:

International Auditors to check Indian Auditors

MUMBAI: Pricewaterhousecoopers (PwC) plans to bring in partners from its international to do an independent audit of its clients in besides what is being done by its Indian partners.

Expect more accounting irregularities to be uncovered...will they be exposed or hushed up?...well it is election season...and the UPA is desperate...it will depend on the state where irregularities are uncovered...

Markets:  Expect sideways movement to continue...2750-2850 Nifty range...