The Satyam scam has evinced wide-ranging responses from auditors — but mainly one of shock. Shailesh Haribhakti of Haribhakti Group said he was, “absolutely shocked after hearing about the Satyam scam.” Action, he said, will now be taken by regulators at every level.

Dolphy D’Souza, Partner, Ernst & Young, said the size of the fraud was huge and that they will have to look into details. “Auditors will be questioned; the matter cannot be wished away,” he said. D’Souza added there would be huge implications from overseas regulators.

Richard Rekhy of KPMG said such a fraud requires a number of people, not just one person and that it is difficult to point fingers at only one agency. He remarked it has been happening for a number of years, and when management is involved to such an extent it is difficult for auditors who are relying on companies’ confirmation and certification.

Rekhy added that auditors rely a lot on bank confirmation and various other certifications plus some of its audit procedures. "The auditor comes in last in a sense that he relies upon various confirmations, certifications and he also conducts certain audits procedures. So, it would be unfair at this stage to comment with out a proper investigation being carried out," he said.

As per the latest updates, PricewaterhouseCoopers said, "We have learnt of the disclosures made by Chairman of Satyam and are currently examing the contents of the statement." They further stated that they are not commenting further on this subject due to issues of client confidentiality.

Satyam: A cleverly crafted scam, says Udayan