Price Waterhouse knocks SC door against SEBI order

Firm files plea to allow it to audit existing clients till 2020 The ongoing tussle between Price Waterhouse and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has once again reached the Supreme Court. The audit firm has filed an appeal to be allowed to continue auditing its existing clients till March 2020, while reiterating that it does not fall under the regulatory purview of SEBI in the matter related to the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services. According to a person familiar with the matter, Price Waterhouse (PW) filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the apex court on Friday, after its second appeal was dismissed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). ‘No bench at SAT’ “Currently, SAT has no bench and that could delay the proceedings at the tribunal. Price Waterhouse has a few clients whose financial year ends in December and hence urgently needs a directive on whether it could audit its existing clients till March 2020. It stands a better chance to be heard in the Supreme Court,” said the person on condition of anonymity. The case goes back to January, when the capital market regulator barred PW from auditing listed companies for two years for its alleged role in the Satyam matter. Further, the regulator barred PW from accepting new clients and servicing existing clients in the listed segment beyond March 31, 2018. Thereafter in February, the audit firm filed an appeal in SAT, which granted partial relief by allowing it to service its existing clients till March 31, 2019. Price Waterhouse filed another appeal seeking a further extension to service its existing clients till March 31, 2020, but the tribunal dismissed the appeal. Meanwhile, an email query sent to Price Waterhouse remained unanswered till the time of going to press. This is not the first time that the audit firm has knocked the doors of the apex court in this matter. Basis a petition filed by the audit firm, the Supreme Court, in January last year, directed SEBI to expedite the investigation against Price Waterhouse and conclude the probe by July.