ICSI to come up with auditing standards for professionals

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) today said it is set to introduce auditing standards for practising company secretaries.

The auditing standards, however, will be voluntary in nature.

President of ICSI Makarand Lele said that four auditing standards would be announced soon.

He said these standards were being drawn up to harmonise with the secretarial standards, compulsory for listed companies, with the view to comply with the corporate governance requirement as per the new Companies Act.

Speaking to reporters here, Lele said that according to two specific secretarial standards, it was mandatory to hold board and general meetings by companies.

ICSI, being a regulatory body, would ensure that the standards were being adhered to in letter and spirit by the company secretaries, he said.

The secretarial standards apply to appointment of independent directors as well, and ICSI was helping companies in this regard.

The regulatory body has also formulated the Code for Charity Governance, with nine guiding principles, for transparency and full disclosure, Lele said.

In addition, ICSI has come out with the Anti-bribery Code, to be adopted voluntarily by the corporate sector.