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Economic Times
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- Economic Times
A proud Elon Musk shares how SpaceX started in a garage as its Falcon rockets complete 500th mission
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
NFRA slaps notices on IndusInd Bank auditors
MUMBAI: India's accounting and auditing standards regulator has asked several chartered accountancy firms to share details pertaining to the audit of the troubled private sector bank IndusInd. Less than a fortnight ago, the National Financial Reporting Authority ( NFRA ) sent notices to the existing auditor MSKA & Associates, a member of global advisory network BDO, as well many former auditors of the bank, two persons familiar with the development told ET. "Since there have been accounting irregularities in the IndusInd derivatives book over a period of time, NFRA has asked for the entire audit files for respective years from all the statutory auditors who had signed the accounts since 2017," said another person. While other details, if any, in the NFRA communique are not known, the sources confirmed said the government agency would scan the dossier of working papers and evidence that support the audit exercise and corroborate the bank's claims on its financials. "First, the audit file will tell the scope of work - i.e., whether the auditor was responsible for the derivatives accounts. Second, what are the supporting documents that have gone in forming the audit opinion," said an official with one of the auditors. The past auditors of the bank included PwC (which was the auditor from 2015-16 to 2017-18); (a member firm of Ernst & Young and the auditor for 2018-19); Haribhakti & Co (2019-20, 2020-21); and, M P Chitale & Co along with Haribhakti & Co in 2021-22. MSKA & Associates and M P Chitale & Co were the joint auditors for 2023-24. None of the firms responded to ET's queries. The suspected 'accounting fraud' in the IndusInd derivatives book, perpetrated for more than five years by a cohort of senior bank officials, helped the Hinduja-promoted bank either overstate its profits or mask the losses depending on how the foreign exchange rates moved. An examination by NFRA could throw light on whether statutory auditors were looking the other way while the books were cooked. "Most of the auditors are yet to share the information. They would eventually as NFRA is an organisation constituted by the government under the Companies Act. However, we assume that NFRA must have broached the issue with the Reserve Bank of India as certain information pertaining to loan exposures (of the company that is being audited) cannot be readily shared under the Banking Regulation Act," said a senior chartered accountant. The audit files could also hold the Memorandum of Changes (MoCs) which are important documents used to record and communicate material changes or misstatements found in financial statements. WHY JUST AUDITORS? The fiercely competitive, yet closely-knit, audit community is divided over the extent of lapses on the bank's auditors: some are willing to give the auditors the benefit of doubt due to the voluminous nature of the complex trades; however, others insist that instead of giving the IndusInd treasury and asset-liability management desks a long rope, the auditors should have looked deeper into the bank's 'other assets' which held the 'internal hedge' transactions which were the core of the accounting controversy. Indeed, in 2024, the auditors had excluded 'valuation of derivatives' as a 'key audit matter' from the annual report (after including it a year before). NFRA senior officials did not comment on the notices. "But, why just auditors? NFRA should question IndusInd management on the explanations given to the auditors as well as examine the role of the audit committee. NFRA lays down the role of the audit committee. The committee is required to assess whether certain assumptions are reasonable, and keep an eye on aspects like expected credit loss (ECL) and possibilities of management bias." A few months ago, after the accounting fiasco boiled over, the present auditors had asked the bank to spell out whether the 'discrepencies' were in the nature of 'fraud'. Till then, the IndusInd management has described the issues arising from forex derivative accounting as 'discrepancy'. However, tagging an irregularity as 'fraud' can have serious implications in a bank as the matter is required to be reported in due course with the economic offences wing or other law enforcement agencies. The law requires auditors to alert the ministry of corporate affairs about cases of suspected fraud.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
VinFast tweaks sales plan ahead of its India debut
Mumbai: VinFast has recalibrated its India sales plans ahead of the launch of its electric SUVs scheduled for the upcoming festive season. The Vietnamese company has pared its sales volume target for the first year of launch by a third to 3,000 units, even as it continues to evaluate the method of CKD (completely knocked down) assembly for the V7 and V6 models. The company is also set to delay the launch of these models by a month due to an underdeveloped sales network, according to people aware of the company's plans. Production at VinFast's facility at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu-originally scheduled to begin on June 30-has been pushed back to July 30. Consequently, bookings for the VF7 and VF6 models will open in mid-July, with customer deliveries expected by mid-August. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo An email sent to the company on Tuesday seeking comment remained unanswered till the time of going to press on Sunday. "VinFast's full-fledged plans will unfold only next year when they introduce the VF 3, the company's affordable SUV. This year will mostly be about making an entry and testing the market," said one of the people cited above. Live Events The delay is being attributed to a fledgling distribution strategy and lack of network readiness. After the Bharat Mobility Show in January, VinFast appointed dealers for 40 locations. However, a majority of them have since withdrawn their letters of intent (LoIs), citing the company's inconsistent approach to distribution planning, pricing, and product positioning, the people said. As of now, only eight to ten dealers remain, they said. "There was a lot of back and forth. They do not seem to have clarity on how many sales touchpoints to have, what price point to launch the models at, and how many units to sell. We couldn't commit investment with this lack of clarity," said a dealer principal who withdrew the LoI a couple of months ago. "Since the auto show, VinFast hasn't done much on brand activation. Most are unaware of the brand in India," said another dealer who also opted out. Ashish Jain, the executive in charge of network development, seems to have resigned, said some of the people cited earlier. Jain did not respond to ET's message seeking comment and phone calls. VinFast has built a 400-acre integrated EV manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 50,000 units in Tamil Nadu. At the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, the company showcased a range of models it plans to launch in India, including the VF 3, VF 7, VF 9, and VF e34 SUVs. Electric car adoption in India continues to grow steadily. In May 2025, electric passenger vehicles accounted for 4.1% of the industry car sales, up from 3.5% in April and 2.6% in the same month last year, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations.
