I am happy to share with you some significant developments concerning profession and important decisions taken by the Council at its 342nd meeting held on 15th, 16th April 2015 and on 4th and 5th May 2015 after adjournment.

A meeting was called by Ministry of Finance on 24th April, 2015 to discuss new ITR forms. It was chaired by Shri Arun Jaitley Hon'ble Minister of Finance. We shared our concerns and the challenges in the new forms with the Minister. We have also emphasized the need for a simplified single page return form which was appreciated by him.

I am happy to share with you that we met Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor RBI in his office in Mumbai on 28th April, 2015 to discuss in detail some of the important issues concerning our profession. Following points were broadly discussed:

• Issues involved in the new system of Appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) of Public Sector Banks.
• Appointment of Statutory Branch Auditors (SBAs) of Public Sector Banks.
• Increase in the Audit Coverage of Branches of Public Sector Banks under Statutory Audit.
• Internal Audit related work of Banks to be outsourced to Chartered Accountants.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (2014-15) stated in its 13th report that it would like the NFRA to function as an oversight body without any jurisdictional conflict or overlap. It has desired that this aspect may be addressed, when the rules governing NFRA are finalized by the Ministry. The report is hosted on the website at: http://164.100.47.134/lsscommittee/Finance/16_Finance_13.pdf. We had brought to the notice of the members of the Standing Committee that instead of constitution of NFRA it would be a better proposition to further empower ICAI. I am thankful to the Hon'ble Chairman and the members of the Standing Committee for considering our representation.

The recent years have witnessed rapid changes in the business and economic environment. The economic upheavals, rise in cross border movement of business and increased expectations of stakeholders have necessitated changes in the existing or bring out new standards and guidance notes. The council has approved a number of drafts as a step to firm up existing framework.

• Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) 31, 'Intangible Assets' based on corresponding IPSAS 31.
• Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) on 'Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of Accounting' corresponding to IPSAS on 'Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of Accounting'.
• Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) 3, 'Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors' corresponding to IPSAS 3 on 'Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors'.
• Accounting Standard for Local Bodies (ASLB) 19, 'Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets' corresponding to IPSAS 19, 'Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets'.
• Guidance Note on Accounting for Derivative Contracts to be effective from 1.4.2016. It was decided that members will be encouraged to follow from even earlier period.
• Guidelines for Valuation norms for Intangible Assets under Rule 23 of the LLP Rules, 2009.
• Guidance Note on Reporting Under Section 143(3)(f) and (h) of the Companies Act, 2013.
• Illustrative formats of the auditor's report on consolidated financial statements of a company under the Companies Act 2013.

To ensure fair and transparent elections to the central and regional councils an Electoral Reforms Group was formed. The Council considered its Report and decided that:

• Set up of polling booth in chapters abroad having more than 500 voters, subject to feasibility and permission to be obtained from MCA and MEA/MHA.
• Ballot papers will include membership no. of candidate along with photograph.
• Polling Officers will be given clear instructions as to which documents to be verified for identification of voter.
• Efforts will be made for display cast of votes through website every two hours.
• Host draft list of voters and seek voters to point out errors, if any.
• Possibility of getting confirmation from postal voters that they have posted their vote shall also be explored.

Under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, consequent to the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006, the Central Government has constituted a Quality Review Board. In the recent meeting the council disposed off 10 references received from the Quality Review Board containing recommendations to the Council under clause (a) of Section 28B of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.

It is our endeavour to strengthen policies and procedures that enable members to render quality services. In a separate manner, the Council decided to fix limit on concurrent audit of banks at 4 audits per member per year. Cooperative banks and RRBs were exempted from the limit. The above limit will come into effect from 1.1.2016. These limits are carefully kept to enable members to devote more time thereby improving the quality of work.

As a partner in Nation building the ICAI through its technical committee viz. the Committee on Economic, Commercial Laws & WTO participated at the Global Exhibition on Services (GES) 2015, April 23-25, 2015 in New Delhi. It was the unique initiative of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India to promote export of Services from India and to provide a platform to enhance strategic cooperation and develop synergies between players of the services sector in India with their Global counterpart. There was participation from more than 35 Countries with 400 Exhibitors.

The present round of ICAI examinations started on 2nd May. It is a mammoth task that involves close coordination and supervision. I am sure the students who have put in right efforts would manage good marks. Passing examinations is not as difficult as perceived by some.

Examinees may also have diverse opinion on the question paper. In case you find question papers to be unduly lengthy or you feel that questions are incorrect or beyond syllabus, then you must write to us at examfeedback@icai.in so as to reach us not later than one week from the date of the last examination, i.e. 25th May 2015. I assure that each mail would be properly considered so that no injustice is done.

At ICAI, convocations are organized twice each year at various metros/cities in order to confer the newly qualified Chartered Accountants with their membership certificates. Students get their membership certificate declaring them as Chartered Accountants – a degree allowing them to either go in for practice or serve the industry. In continuation with the practice we are in the process of organizing the first round of Convocations at various metros/cities - Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi and Kanpur during the months of May to July.

These are some of the recent important developments which I wanted to share with you. I assure you, the Council is committed to work in the best interest of the profession.

With Best Wishes,