HDFC Bank appoints MSKA & Associates as auditor

 HDFC Bank on Friday announced the appointment of MSKA & Associates as its statutory auditor for four years, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier this week barred the private lender's proposed auditor S.R. Batliboi & Company from bank audits.

In a regulatory filing, HDFC Bank said that the appointment of the audit firm, however, is subject to approval from the RBI and shareholders of the bank.

On March 7, the bank's board of directors had resolved to re-appoint S.R. Batliboi & Co as its statutory auditor for three years with effect from financial year 2019-20, subject to the approval of the RBI and the shareholders. 

However, the central bank on Monday barred the auditing firm from handling audits in commercial banks for a period of one-year starting April 1, due to lapses indentified in a statutory audit assignment.

"Accordingly, the bank cannot appoint S.R. Batliboi as the statutory auditor of the bank as was earlier proposed. Consequently, the board of directors of the bank has today approved the appointment of MSKA & Associates, Chartered Accountants (Firm Registration No: 105047W) as the statutory auditors of the bank for a period of 4 (four) years with effect from FY 2019-20," the filing said. IANS