'Global meltdown would not have occurred in India: ICAI

New Delhi, Nov 18 (UNI) Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President Ved Jain today said that the global meltdown would not have occurred in India as, unlike the Western world, the country's regulatory mechanism was far superior.

Admitting the need for U S auditors to have been more vigilant when its economy was becoming overheated, he told reporters here that the global financial crisis had resulted from regulatory watch oversight rather than accounting or auditing shortcomings. ''In a meltdown everyone gets affected and we cannot shrug responsibility nor take entire resposibility.'' When Enron happened, no regulatory mechanism was noticed in place unlike in India which had already put it in place within years of gaining Independence. ''In India, the Reserve Bank of India would have intervened as had happened recently when it issued advisories for caution in lending to the real estate developers.'' ''Had they acted productively, no such crisis would have taken place. In India no banks have got into similar trouble as before it can happen, the RBI intervenes,'' the ICAI President said.

Meanwhile, about 4,000 delegates, including 250 delegates from about 40 countries have confirmed their partcipation in the two-day conference being held in Jaipur from November 20-22. The theme of this year's event is ''Accounting Profession-Shining Bridge between Global Economies'' and will attempt to understand the essence of the present global scenario.

Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta, Mr Martin Hagen, deputy president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) are among the speakers who will address the meeting.

Simultaneously, discussions between ICAI and the representatives of ICAEW, UK, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, Canada Institute of Certified Accountants (CICA), Canada, and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore will go on on the sidelines and are expected to culminate in closer working ties between ICAI and the other accountancy bodies.

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