--- title: "Edition No. 17 | 23 September 2026 | BNPS and Associates LLP" url: "https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026" description: "*Key highlights*: • ICAI issues SSA 5000, India\'s new sustainability assurance standard, effective 1 April 2027 — supersedes SSA 3000/SAE 3410; BRSR assuranc..." --- # Edition No. 17 \| 23 September 2026 Written by: **[CA Chintan Patel](https://bnpsca.com/partner/ca-chintan-patel)** \| Topic: **Board Members** ![Edition No. 17 | 23 September 2026](https://imageproxy.inlancer.in/pr:sharp/f:webp/rs:fit:1200:0/g:sm/plain/https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6ab384a566882-480-F-762906771-9G0q.jpg)23-09-2026 *Key highlights*: • ICAI issues SSA 5000, India's new sustainability assurance standard, effective 1 April 2027 — supersedes SSA 3000/SAE 3410; BRSR assurance engagements should start transition planning now. • ICAI readies CA Act amendments for multidisciplinary partnerships, firm aggregation and capital infusion — aimed at building Indian firms that can compete with the Big Four; draft expected in ~2 months. • SEBI settles ₹1.50 crore proceedings against 5 Adani group cos over RPT non-disclosure and audit reports signed without a valid ICAI peer review certificate **—** **CHINTAN'S PERSPECTIVE** | ![](https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6872083e8d605-11.png) **Chintan N. Patel** Partner – Financial Reporting & Advisory *B N P S And Associates LLP* | *This edition's four developments share a single thread: the architecture of financial oversight is being rebuilt, not just enforced. SEBI's settlement with five Adani group companies penalises a documentation failure — audit reports signed without a valid peer review certificate — that is easy to overlook precisely because it sits upstream of the numbers themselves. ICAI, in the same week, both raised the assurance bar with SSA 5000 for sustainability reporting and opened the door to larger, better-capitalised CA firms through proposed CA Act amendments. Separately, early discussions on repurposing Cersai into a broader financial-oversight and risk-monitoring database point toward centralised, data-driven supervision becoming the default rather than the exception. None of these is a single enforcement headline; together, they describe where the profession and its regulators are heading.* | |---|---| **—** **TOP DEVELOPMENTS** **01** **AUDIT & ASSURANCE** **SEBI Settles ₹1.50 Crore Proceedings Against Five Adani Group Companies Over Related-Party Non-Disclosure and Peer-Review-Certificate Lapses** **WHY IT MATTERS** *The order is a reminder that audit-firm compliance infrastructure — not just the audit opinion — is now squarely within SEBI's enforcement lens.* By order dated 22 September 2026, SEBI settled proceedings against Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, AWL Agri Business and Adani Energy Solutions for a collective ₹1.50 crore, arising from its examination of governance issues flagged in the Hindenburg report. The proceedings covered non-disclosure of certain related-party transactions and instances where audit or limited review reports were signed by audit firms without holding a valid ICAI peer review certificate, in alleged violation of SEBI's listing regulations and the erstwhile listing agreement. | **PRACTICAL IMPLICATION** Audit committees of listed entities should build independent verification of statutory and limited-review auditors' current peer review certificate status into the annual re-appointment and quarterly review process. | |---| **02** **FINANCIAL REPORTING & ESG ASSURANCE** **ICAI Issues SSA 5000 — India's New Sustainability Assurance Standard, Effective 1 April 2027** **WHY IT MATTERS** *The standard sets the assurance bar for BRSR-linked sustainability reporting and will govern how auditors sign off on ESG disclosures from FY 2027-28.* ICAI issued Standard on Sustainability Assurance (SSA) 5000 on 20 September 2026, superseding SSA 3000 and SAE 3410 with effect from 1 April 2027. The standard covers assurance across climate, labour practices and biodiversity disclosures, and is broadly aligned with the international ISSA 5000, with two India-specific carve-outs — joint audits and forward-looking-statement assurance are excluded from its scope for now. | **PRACTICAL IMPLICATION** Firms offering or planning to offer BRSR/sustainability assurance services should begin methodology and staff-training transition planning well ahead of the 1 April 2027 effective date, and map current SSA 3000/SAE 3410 engagements to the new standard's requirements. | |---| **03** **PROFESSIONAL UPDATES** **ICAI Readies CA Act Amendments to Enable Multidisciplinary Partnerships and Capital Infusion Into CA Firms** **WHY IT MATTERS** *The proposed changes aim to let Indian CA firms scale, aggregate and raise capital to compete with the Big Four in a roughly $240 billion global market.* ICAI is preparing amendments to the Chartered Accountants Act, reported on 20 September 2026, to permit multidisciplinary partnerships bringing together CAs with company secretaries, cost accountants, advocates, engineers, architects and actuaries, alongside recognition of firm-aggregation structures and capital infusion into CA firms. A first draft is expected within roughly two months, subject to approval by ICAI's Central Council and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The reform follows around 1,000 CA firm mergers approved between February and August 2026. | **PRACTICAL IMPLICATION** Mid-size and regional firms should track the draft closely — aggregation, networking-rule liberalisation and capital-infusion provisions will directly affect succession planning, service-line expansion and competitive positioning over the next two to three years. | |---| **04** **RISK & CONTROL** **Central Registry Cersai May Be Expanded Into a Data-Analytics Institution for Fraud Prevention and Risk Monitoring** **WHY IT MATTERS** *Preliminary discussions point to Cersai's role widening well beyond its current securitisation-registry function — worth watching, not yet actionable.* Per reports dated 14 September 2026, financial-sector officials are discussing expanding the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (Cersai) — currently a registry for financial assets and security interests — into a more advanced, data-driven analytical institution supporting fraud prevention and detection, credit oversight and risk monitoring across financial segments. The discussions coincide with the phased rollout of the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCRR 2.0) and involve RBI as an active participant. No implementation timeline has been announced and the proposal remains at a preliminary stage. | **PRACTICAL IMPLICATION** No immediate action is required, but risk and compliance teams at banks, NBFCs and their auditors should monitor this development — a centralised oversight database, if implemented, would materially change the data auditors and lenders are eventually measured against. | |---| | **— THIS MATTERS MORE THAN IT APPEARS** *The SEBI-Adani settlement is being read as a related-party-disclosure story, but the more consequential finding is procedural: limited review reports were signed by audit firms without a valid ICAI peer review certificate — a lapse in the firm's own compliance infrastructure, not in the audit opinion itself. Peer review certification is treated by many practitioners as a renewal formality; SEBI has now shown it will treat a lapsed certificate as a listing-regulation violation attaching to the company, not just the firm. Audit committees engaging or continuing statutory or limited-review auditors should independently verify current peer review status as a standing item, not assume it from the appointment letter.* | |---| **—** **AI WATCH** | The reported discussions on expanding Cersai's mandate point to a broader direction: regulators consolidating scattered financial and KYC data into a single analytical layer capable of powering fraud detection and credit-risk scoring, rather than relying on siloed, post-facto reporting. Coupled with the phased CKYCRR 2.0 rollout, this signals that data-driven, near-real-time risk monitoring is moving from bank-internal analytics toward shared regulatory infrastructure — a trend auditors and risk teams should track even while the Cersai proposal itself remains at the discussion stage. | |---| **—** **QUOTE OF THE DAY** | *“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”* — LOUIS BRANDEIS | |---| **ABOUT BNPS** B N P S And Associates LLP is a firm of Chartered Accountants having offices at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Raichur, Rajkot. The firm provides professional services in the areas of audit, assurance, financial reporting, taxation, risk advisory, due diligence and related professional services. For details refer, [www.bnpsca.com](http://www.bnpsca.com). **Disclaimer:** This publication is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as professional advice. Readers should seek professional guidance before acting on any information contained herein. - Tags: - [Audit Committee](#) - [Board](#) - [NFRA](#) - [Ind AS](#) - [Governance](#) - [Risk](#) ![CA Chintan Patel](https://imageproxy.inlancer.in/pr:sharp/f:webp/rs:fit:200:0/g:sm/plain/https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6872083e8d605-11.png)About the Author #### CA Chintan Patel Ahmedabad Ind AS Advisory Statutory Audit of Listed Companies ESG,BRSR [View Profile ](https://bnpsca.com/partner/ca-chintan-patel) #### Share this on social media : [ Share ](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ Tweet ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ Post ](https://vk.com/share.php?url=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ post ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ Share ](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ post ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) [ pin ](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-17-23-september-2026) ## You May Also Like Similar Articles You Might Find Interesting [ ![Edition No. 1 | 13 June 2026](https://imageproxy.inlancer.in/pr:sharp/f:webp/rs:fit:500:0/g:sm/plain/https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6a7aa5f36c663-Images-1.jpeg) ](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-1-13-june-2026 "Blog Link")13-06-2026 #### [Edition No. 1 \| 13 June 2026](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-1-13-june-2026 "Edition No. 1 | 13 June 2026") By Chintan N. Patel [Continue Reading](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-1-13-june-2026) [ ![Edition No. 2 | 14 June 2026](https://imageproxy.inlancer.in/pr:sharp/f:webp/rs:fit:500:0/g:sm/plain/https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6a7aa73b97dab-Images-2.jpeg) ](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-2-14-june-2026 "Blog Link")14-06-2026 #### [Edition No. 2 \| 14 June 2026](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-2-14-june-2026 "Edition No. 2 | 14 June 2026") By Chintan N. Patel [Continue Reading](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-2-14-june-2026) [ ![Edition No. 3 | 15 June 2026](https://imageproxy.inlancer.in/pr:sharp/f:webp/rs:fit:500:0/g:sm/plain/https://bnpsca.com/public/assets/upload/images/original/6a7aaa5d87c11-Images-3.jpeg) ](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-3-15-june-2026 "Blog Link")15-06-2026 #### [Edition No. 3 \| 15 June 2026](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-3-15-june-2026 "Edition No. 3 | 15 June 2026") By Chintan N. Patel [Continue Reading](https://bnpsca.com/insight/edition-no-3-15-june-2026) ### Any Questions After Reading? We’re happy to clarify any doubts and advise you about your business [ Get Expert Guidance ](https://bnpsca.com/contact-us) '); $(this).remove(); }); });