RBI bans Srei Infra auditor Haribhakti & Co for 2 yrs

Mumbai: In an unprecedented move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday banned one of India's top Chartered Accountant (CA) firms Haribhakti & Co LLP from undertaking any type of audit assignments for regulated entities for a period of two years starting April 1, 2022.

Haribhakti & Co LLP was the auditor of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL), whose board was superseded by the RBI and insolvency proceedings were initiated last week.

The term of the firm expired with the conclusion of the 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on September 19, 2020.

The banking sector regulator has taken this action against the firm for failure to comply with a specific direction issued by the RBI with respect to its statutory audit of a Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), the central bank said in a statement.