The Hindu Business Line : Ministry may accept ICWAI's request for name change

Indications are that the Ministry of Company Affairs may accept its request of changing the name of the Institute as Institute of Cost Management Accountants of India.

Inaugurating the e-learning initiative of ICWAI, the Minister for Company Affairs, Mr Prem Chand Gupta, said that he was keen to resolve the issue before introducing the Bill to amend the Act regulating Cost and Works Accountants in the next Parliament session. The Chartered Accountants Institute has been raising objections to the incorporation of term `management'.

"The Bill, apart from dealing with capacity building for the profession, also proposes a disciplinary mechanism for professionals," he said. Elaborating on disciplinary mechanism, he said all three bodies - Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India and ICWAI - would have a single appellate authority for appeals by members against the decisions of the respective Institutes.

"The Appellate Authority will be headed by a sitting or a retired High Court judge," the Minister said. The other details such as the size of the Appellate Authority are being worked out, he said.

By and large, the recommendation of Standing Committee on Finance, which was examining the three Bills, was accepted, the Minister said.

Allaying fears that the amendments may affect the autonomy of the Institutes, the Minister said, the Ministry was not interested in undue control or over interference in the functioning of the Institutes. He, however, cautioned that the Government would like them to be regulated properly.

The Minister also said the Government was in the process of appointing three new members to the Company Law Board.

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