As you are aware that a Study Group was constituted to study the capacity building measures of CA firms. The Council at its 245 th Meeting held from 31 st August, 2004 to 2 nd September, 2004 at New Delhi considered the report of the Study Group and accepted the same with certain modifications. The report as accepted was hosted in the website of the Institute under the title “Capacity Building Measures, 2004”. The report recommended, inter alia, that: -

“The individual firms should be encouraged to get certifications from bodies to be prescribed by the Institute, to the effect that they have achieved a certain degree of standardization and/or quality in the process of delivering their services. The Peer Review system introduced by the Institute is one such method of achieving qualitative standards. This will encourage the members to attain higher degree of qualitative standards which in turn will improve the brand image of such a firm in particular and of the profession in general. However, the firms are not permitted to state such achievement/certification on their professional stationary which includes letter heads, visiting cards, website etc.”

Presently, the Peer Review system introduced by the Institute is the only method of achieving such certification. The Peer Review Board has been established by the Council to conduct the peer reviews of CA firms. In this regard, Members’ attention is drawn to the Peer Review Statement announced by the Institute. The main objectives of the Peer Review system are as follows: -