SEBI on Monday made it mandatory for all listed companies to disclose their quarterly results within 45 days of the quarter end, to disclose their balance sheets every half year, as well as make sure that their auditors have been subject to the “peer review” mechanism recommended by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. These were some of the amendments made by the regulator to the listing agreement. Earlier, companies had to disclose their results within 30 days from the end of the quarter. For annual results the timeline is now 60 days, down from the earlier period of 90 days. The peer review recommendation is to “ensure that the quality of services rendered by the members of the institute are maintained and enhanced on a continuous basis,” said SEBI. Another requirement mandated by SEBI is that the appointment of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) should be cleared by the audit committee of a company before its management approves it. This has to be done to ensure that the CFO has adequate accounting and financial management expertise, SEBI explained in a statement. SEBI has also said that in order to implement the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and to familiarise companies with it, it has been decided to make it optional for subsidiaries of listed companies to submit consolidated financials in accordance with IFRS. Submission of standalone results will be according to Indian GAAP
