Asian Development Bank has been assured by the government of enacting Financial Reporting Act (FRA) by next month.
“The bill will be placed in the new parliament in January,” a senior official of finance division told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The election of 154 from the ruling Awami League and its allies uncontested before the January 5 opposition-free polls has already confirmed that the incumbents are going to form next government.
In August, the cabinet committee approved the draft of the country’s first-ever FRA.
Because the chartered accountants lodged strong opposition against FRA, the government could not place it in the parliament for passage, said finance ministry officials.
The initiative to enact FRA has been taken under the finance ministry’s capital market development programme (CMDP). ADB already halted disbursement of $150m from second instalment of its loan to implement CMDP as condition of introducing FRA has not been fulfilled yet. The second instalment was of $300m.
Last week Finance Minister AMA Muhith also said the government would place the bill in the next session of the parliament. He expressed the government’s resoluteness to enact the FRA against the chartered accountants’ demand not to do that.
“They (CA) do not want the law as it will make them responsible for financial reports full of mistakes,” said finance minister, alleging that the CAs are careful enough in preparing financial reports.
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) is opposed to the FRA which is mainly to set up a council to strengthen monitoring over financial reports.
ICAB currently regulates the job. According to it, if the law is passed, there will be a conflict in the overseeing of the work.
“If passed, the FRA will cause clash in regulating accountancy profession,” said ICAB president Abdus Salam.
“It will also disrupt the preparation of financial reporting and auditing,”
As per the draft law, the violation will lead to five-year imprisonment or Tk100,000 fine, or the both.
If any person or institution continues to violate, they will have to Tk5,000 as penalty for each day.