Watchdog regime necessary to protect investors: Moily

NEW DELHI, Aug 8:The Government today told India Inc that a �watchdog regime� was necessary to protect investors from financial frauds and irregularities.�We do realise that our pro-active role to improve quality of corporate governance does, at times, cause some misgivings in the corporate world, there is no doubt that we require a watch-dog regime without affecting flexibility, autonomy and enterprise...�...It is constant endeavour to keep this equilibrium,� Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily said at an Assocham event here.He said it was the responsibility of the MCA to protect the interest of millions of investors from �losses arising out of financial frauds and related business irregularities including mis-governance�.Moily added that corporate growth was not just about increasing turnovers anymore, but is much wider and includes corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and corporate sustainability.�Good governance reflects the way companies address legal responsibilities and therefore, provides the foundation upon which CSR and corporate sustainability practices can be built to enhance responsible operations,� he said.He also said that there was a need for institutional reforms and capacity building in financial management system at all levels of government.�The purposes,� he said, �is not only to ensure high quality of accounting and financial reporting but also monitoring flow of funds in various governmental programmes/and projects.Moily further said that in order to ensure transparency and accountability, the MCA has mandated XBRL-based filing of financial statements.XBRL is a globally accepted standardised business reporting tool that enables easy dissection of bulk documents without delay.�This (XBRL implementation) resulted in a dramatic decline in compliance costs to companies as well as improved compliance by them,� he said.He added that the Ministry was working on improving XBRL filings and has invited comments from stakeholders regarding various aspects. (PTI)