The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Partner in Nation Building, continues to march ahead in building strong global partnerships in strengthening our Nation’s financial reporting framework with high quality internationally accepted financial reporting standards. ICAI is the premier Accounting body in India which functions as a statutory body under Ministry of Corporate Affairs. As per the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of companies including listed entities are mandatory required to comply with IFRS convergent Ind AS and presently, 39 Indian Accounting Standards (Ind ASs) have been notified by the Government for compliance.

Under the Companies Act 2013, the ICAI is the only statutory body recognised in India for recommending Accounting Standards mentioning, “Accounting Standards’ means the standard of accounting recommended by the ICAI and prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS).”

In view of the above role and contribution of the ICAI, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) authorized the ICAI to sign an MoU with IFRS Foundation on behalf of MCA, Government of India.

Under the leadership of CA. Naveen N.D. Gupta, President, ICAI and CA. S.B. Zaware, Chairman, ASB, the ICAI entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IFRS Foundation, the body that oversees the issuer of IFRS Standards, known as gateway to global capital markets. This MoU will formalise the mutual understanding and acceptance about the rights of each of the parties in the copyrights in IFRS Standards and Ind AS.

Terming the event as ‘historic’, CA. Naveen N.D. Gupta, President ICAI said “Our history bears the testimony that we have resolutely upheld the societal trust and importance. Signing of this MoU by ICAI on behalf of the MCA reaffirms our position as National Standard Setter in India, our research activities and contribution so far made towards IFRS Implementation in India. We are committed to ushering best global practices in India be it accounting, audit, or ethics. ICAI is actively engaged in formulation of IFRS-converged Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-ASs) and this landmark MoU will enable us in getting the members and other stakeholders ready for implementation of these Standards in India.”

Apart from the above, the ICAI has also entered into three other agreements with the IFRS Foundation relating to sharing of IFRS knowledge data base and its copyrighted materials with ICAI which will immensely benefit the members and students of ICAI. Successful conclusion of these arrangements will go a long way in reinforcing GOI’s commitment for forging a strong partnership in furthering the global cause of setting IFRS Standards as single set of high quality global financial reporting standards.