The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) issued specific considerations while conducting the Distance Audit or Remote Audit or Online Audit of Bank Branch under the current Covid-19 situation.
The letter issued by ICAI addresses certain vital aspects related to Statutory Bank Branch Audits in the form of “Specific Considerations while conducting Distance Audit or Remote Audit or Online Audit of Bank Branch under current Covid-19 situation.”
“It is advisable for the auditor that while planning and performing the alternative procedures, more professional skepticism may be exercised to ensure compliance with Standards on Auditing,” the letter addressing all the Statutory Bank Branch Auditors advised.
“The audit firm will enquire and adopt the SOPs adopted by the respective banks under the Covid-19 situation and would strictly comply with the government regulatory guidelines issued in this regard without any deviation,” the letter said.
The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board of ICAI, while assuring compliance with the norms of lockdown clarified, “The audit firm can request the bank to provide the data or documents required for the purpose of conducting the audit in soft copy format at the mutual convenience of the auditor and auditee. The audit firm will ensure strict compliance with the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) terms with regards to such data/documents received and will ensure the confidentiality of the data or documents.”
The Reserve Bank of India issued two circulars dated March 27, 2020, and April 17, 2020, resulting in changes in Asset Classification, and Provisioning norms to a certain extent. It is suggested that the auditor should satisfy itself as regards compliance of the same by the bank.
With a view to supporting our members for fast resolution of such queries, the facility of “Online Panel of Experts for answering the queries of Bank Branch Auditors” made available by the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) of ICAI for responding queries related to statutory bank branch audit.
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