India Inc on Wednesday expressed 'deep shock' and 'disbelief' at the Satyam saga stating that loopholes must be plugged in regulation, audit and governance to restore the confidence of the stakeholders in corporate firms.
The two apex chambers -- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry -- said it was time corporate India did some serious introspection and improved governance standards.
Expressing 'deep shock and disbelief', Ficci president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said 'this fraud on the investors and employees of the company shows a systemic breakdown in audit and board oversight ... Questions will need to be asked and quickly how this happened and who caused it to happen."
CII president K V Kamath said there was a 'need to immediately examine the loopholes in regulation, accounting, audit and governance that allowed such lapses to occur and address them with urgency'.
He said corporate India must 'reflect on ways to demonstrate its quality of governance and enhance the confidence of stakeholders'.
However, both the chambers insisted that the admission of 'massive financial irregularity' in Satyam's books of accounts should not be seen as a blot on all the Indian firms.
"While the occurrence of such events in a major company is a matter of deep regret, CII believes it would be inappropriate for this to be the basis of questioning of general governance standards in other companies," Kamath said.
