PWC India – let’s just forget Satyam

According to the Economic Times:

Price Waterhouse, the Indian affiliate of global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, has filed a consent application with capital market regulator Sebi as part of an effort to reach an early settlement to the ongoing investigation into the accounting fraud at Satyam…

According to people close to the development, Price Waterhouse filed an application late last week in response to the show cause notice that Sebi had issued in February 2009. This consent application is in line with Sebi’s regulations and does not acknowledge Price Waterhouse’s alleged wrongdoing in the Satyam fraud.

When contacted, a Price Waterhouse spokesperson confirmed that the firm has decided to pursue consent proceedings in relation to Sebi proceedings on the audit of Satyam Computer Services rather than engage in a potentially long drawn out legal proceedings with the regulator.

An official statement issued by Price Waterhouse on Friday said that the firm feels that it would be better for all parties to explore, without prejudice, the settlement of proceedings initiated by Sebi.

What this boils down to is PWC trying to get Sebi to settle the matter without admitting any wrong doing. Given that two of its partners are in jail, that’s a pretty good trick to pull – if you can get away with it.

Tagged as: Price Waterhouse, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Satyam