Ahmad & Akhtar no more an auditor
According to the BSEC standards, proprietorship firms cannot be engaged with any professional audit services
Chartered Accountant Kanchi Lal Das and his firm Ahmad and Akhtar is no longer allowed to audit financial statements for his failure to cooperate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB).
On Thursday, the ICAB council decided not to renew Kanchi Lal Das’ audit practising licence as he did not submit the audit working papers of Coppertech Industries Limited for review.
As per directives from the Financial Reporting Council, the audit regulator, the ICAB had requested the firm to submit those papers for a review. But the firm did not cooperate, ICAB President AF Nesaruddin told the media after a meeting.
“It is a professional misconduct according to the ICAB rules. That is why, the ICAB council could not renew his licence,” he added.
As Kanchi Lal Das is the only ICAB member working with the audit firm, the firm is no more allowed to audit financial statements.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said after partner Shaheed Mohammad had retired on March 4 this year, Ahmad & Akhtar came under proprietorship from a partnership firm.
According to the BSEC standards, proprietorship firms cannot be engaged with any professional audit services.
Until further order, the firm will refrain from auditing and certifying any report by listed entities.
When contacted, Kanchi Lal Das told The Business Standard, “We had written to the BSEC, seeking opinion on whether to disclose the Coppertech’s audit working papers to the ICAB or not and we are still waiting for an answer.
“We will challenge this conviction of professional misconduct in the court.”
He also claimed that he had submitted a new partnership deed to the ICAB on March 28 this year which includes four more professional accountants as new partners of the audit firm.
“If it was accepted by the ICAB, we could comply with the BSEC requirements as an auditor of listed entities,” he said.
Ahmed & Akhtar is widely criticised for signing on the initial public offering (IPO) disclosures of Coppertech Industries Limited.
The copper products manufacturer has recently accumulated Tk20 crore from public investors, issuing primary shares with the regulatory approval.
But strong allegations of data fabrication in the IPO prospectus pushed the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) not to approve the company’s listing proposal in time.
Recently, the DSE sought more time from the BSEC and its opinion to decide on whether to list the company.
Meanwhile, board of directors of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) approved the same proposal.
Securities regulators have also received a legal notice from investors not to let Coppertech be in the stock exchanges for the sake of market environment.