Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Role of chartered accountants more important today, says Barnala

CHENNAI: The role of finance professionals such as Chartered Accountants assumes importance as a major financial crisis is sweeping the world today, said Surjit Singh Barnala, Tamil Nadu Governor, here on Friday.

Speaking at the inauguration of 40th Regional Conference of Southern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Mr. Barnala said the members of the Institute needed to provide risk management, mitigation and advisory services to clients.

The huge losses and in some cases the failure of investment banking institutions had pointed to a lack of basic understanding, complex financial products and the associated risks, he observed.

Accounting had assumed greater significance in this era of globalisation. Research in accounting should enhance the knowledge and contribute to the economic well-being of the State and the nation, he said. In the rapidly integrating world, the role of the chartered accountant was expanding. Use of enterprise resource planning solutions in organisations required chartered accountants to play a role in IT governance and audit of information security.

CA Ved Jain, president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, said the Institute would start accounting technician course from December 1. The course would provide a big boost to the profession, he said.

Already the Institute was conducting certificate courses on Valuation, Foreign Exchange and Arbitration. Compared the Chartered Accounts course curriculum offered in England and Wales, the course curriculum in India was a comprehensive one, he claimed. As part of providing computer training the Institute was running 100 computer centres for the CA students to undergo training. Uttam Prakash Agarwal, vice-president, ICAI; Rajendra Kumar P, chairman, SIRC; and K. Viswanath, secretary SIRC, ICAI, spoke.

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