Big accounting firms should take onus for fraud: Khurshid

Asserting that big accounting firms should take the responsibility for accounting frauds rather than passing the blame on individuals, the government on Friday said it may change the law relating to accountability of these firms, if the need arises.

"This is a rational concern that big firms just put the load entirely on one or two individuals who may be directly responsible (for the fraud) but big firms also must take the responsibility... at present it is difficult to hold firms responsible but if need arises we will change the law," Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said  at AIMA conference.

As regards the action to be taken against now-in-jail auditors of Satyam S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, he said, "We have some idea prima facie what needs to be done but we will take view of all stakeholders."

On being asked whether the government has received Registrar Of Companies report on Maytas Infra, he said, it will come this week.

"We are in touch with government directors...the report will be put up to me in a week. Obviously there was a suspicion that all was not well and therefore we went for supercession (of the Maytas board)," he said.

As regards to the complete supercession of the board, Khurshid said that it would be too premature to comment on it without looking at the Registrar of Companies report.

"Let us see the extent of irregularities as to is it something we still need to worry about or not," he said. The government had appointed four nominee directors on the board of Maytas Infra in March.