Mumbai: The chairman of Infosys Ltd may have a view on the integrity of the company's financial statements but the regulator will look at the issue independently, Ajay Tyagi, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India said today.
Tyagi's comment comes in the backdrop of a whistleblower complaint with the US market regulator that alleged dodgy accounting practices by Infosys and its top officials. Addressing an analysts' conference call Wednesday, Chairman Nandan Nilekani had said: "Even God cannot change numbers of this company."
"Ask him or ask God... investors can draw their own conclusions. Whatever we have to do, we are doing, and whatever is the outcome you will know," Tyagi said on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry's Financial Markets Summit 2019.
SEBI has sought some information from Infosys on the whistleblower complaint, Tyagi said. Asked whether US SEC had sought details from SEBI on the issue, Tyagi said, "that is confidential".
The information technology major had earlier said it has mandated its internal auditor, EY, to review the processes in the backdrop of the allegations. The company has also appointed law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas &; Co to independently probe the matter.
Media reports also said the company has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to review the revenue recognition practices associated with large deals.
The revelation of the letter on October 22 spooked investors, who massively sold their holdings in Infosys stocks over the corporate governance issues. The impact of the sharp sell-off was seen far and wide, which eroded over Rs 50,000 crore worth of wealth in a single day.
At present, Sebi is probing the allegations and investigating the build-up of derivatives positions in the company's stock before the whistleblower complaint was revealed.
