BANKING, FINANCIAL SERVICES & INSURANCE COMMITTEE

The Committee acts as an integrated hub for research, dialogue, inputs in policy formulation for emerging context of financial services. It interacts with various stakeholders in order to assimilate core issues which have a bearing on the financial services market in context of the value added services being provided by the Chartered Accountancy profession to the stakeholders.

SIGNIFICANT INITIATIVES / ACHIEVEMENTS

• The Committee had constituted a Study Group to consider the revised format of Long Form Audit Report (LFAR) issued by RBI vide notification dated 5th September 2020 and suggest amendments/changes thereto. The Group considered various clauses of the revised LFAR and finalised the comments on the newly added reporting requirements wherever members of ICAI would have difficulty in auditing/reporting. The comments on the revised LFAR were submitted for the consideration of RBI on 1st December 2020.
• The Committee had constituted a Study Group to review the accounting system of Life Insurance Corporation of India for recording of insurance premium received by them towards various life insurance policies. 4 meetings of the Group had been conducted.

Other Initiatives

• The Committee had organised a Webcast on “Building Positivity amidst COVID-19 Crisis on 8th May 2020. The webcast was addressed by renowned spiritual and motivational speaker Sister BK Shivani.
• The Committee had organised a Webcast on “Economic Model of Self Reliant India” on 1st October 2020. The webcast was addressed by CA. S. Gurumurthy, Renowned Economist; Shri Natubhai Patel, President, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Conferences/ Seminars /Workshops/Programmes

• The Committee organised the following Webcasts on various topics of professional relevance and interest as detailed below:-
  

  Sl. No.	Date	Topic
  1	10th April 2020	Cash Credit under Banks Audits Term Loans, Agriculture Loans under Bank Audit and Restructuring of Advances – LFAR, Audit Report & MoC
  2	21st April 2020	Engagement Standards in day to day practice
  3	25th April 2020	The Profession post COVID -19
  4	4th May 2020	Code of Ethics
  5	8th June 2020	Data Protection - Understanding Legal and Practical Dimensions in Financial Services
  6	28th September 2020	Revised Long Form Audit Report issued by RBI and its issues
  7	18th January 2021	RBI New Guidelines for appointment of Bank Branch Auditor and Significant Changes in Revised Long Form Audit Report

• The Committee had organised Training Programme for members of ICAI on Finacle CBS software on 4th – 7th February 2021.
• The Committee has taken the initiative of organizing awareness programme on Banking, Financial Services & Insurance sectors for the benefit of members and public at large. The following programmes were organised by the Regional Councils/Branches of ICAI with the support of the Committee.

  Name of the Branch	Date	Place
  Madurai Branch of SIRC of ICAI (through Webcast)	12th March 2020	Madurai
  Jaipur Branch of CIRC of ICAI	4th March 2020	Jaipur
  Pondicherry Branch of SIRC of ICAI	7th March 2020	Pondicherry

Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management (DIRM)

• The Committee had organized five Eligibility Test Papers online to enable the DIRM registered members to complete the requirement of Course to be eligible to appear in the Technical Examination to be held in November 2020 onwards as per detail given below:
  • 1st Eligibility Test – 26th June 2020
  • 2nd Eligibility Test – 3rd July 2020
  • 3rdEligibility Test – 17th July 2020
  • 4th Eligibility Test – 14th August 2020
  • 5th Eligibility Test - 23rd December 2020
  • 6th Eligibility Test- 19th February 2021
• The Committee had organised a DIRM Orientation Programme online through ICAI Digital Learning Hub on 23rd – 26th July 2020 to the DIRM Technical Examination passed members of ICAI to enable them to complete the last phase of the Course and make them eligible to award the DIRM Course pass certificate.
• The Committee had issued Eligibility Certificates to 177 members who had passed online eligibility tests conducted by the committee. The members have now become eligible to appear in the Technical Examination to be held in November 2020 onwards.
• As on 21st January 2021, there were 5360 registrations to the Post Qualification Course on Insurance & Risk Management.

Release of Publications

• Principles and Practice of Life Insurance
• Principles and Practice of General Insurance
• Risk Management and Reinsurance
• Business Strategic Planning and Information Technology in Insurance Sector