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THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Action Committee for Level Playing Field may have succeeded, with its recent release of a `white paper' on multinational accounting firms, in sensitising the general public that internationally these firms are capable of committing some big mistakes professionally or that their conduct may not always bear scrutiny by even the most liberal standards of ethical behaviour. But it is a moot point if the celebrated examples of professional misdeeds highlighted in the white paper constitute a basis for some regulatory initiative aimed at denying them the space to hawk their professional skills within the country. The misdeeds, such as they are, relate to events outside the Indian shores. Any regulatory initiative must rest on their omissions and commissions against Indian customers, and for this there is a disciplinary mechanism to which aggrieved customers can take recourse to. Let the law take its own course, as the saying goes, would apply in these cases as well.

If, on the other hand, the issue is one of educating prospective customers about the questionable value of the services the MNC firms bring to the table, then that is something best left to the customers themselves. From the customer perspective, the decision to engage their professional services could stem from one of three motives. One, they do not see some of the well-publicised instances of professional infractions as part of a larger malaise afflicting all multinational accounting firms. They perceive them merely as specific to firms other than those that they chosen to place their faith in. Two, even if it involves the firm they have engaged, they see it as involving professionals other than those assigned to their assignment. Or, alternatively, they realise that these firms do not bring any real superior value for the additional costs involved but nevertheless engage them for the comfort factor that they provide to their business associates and partners. As such it is a necessary cost for doing business with these associates. Viewed from any of these perspectives, there is really little case for depriving prospective consumers of MNC accounting firms' services any more than there is a case for depriving consumers of the right to choose an MNC brand of television or refrigerator over the domestic offerings.

The fear that a few large firms would take over the entire market for auditing and professional accounting services in the country seems to be vastly exaggerated. It has not happened across a whole range of manufactured goods and services and there is no reason to expect that auditing services to be any different. There is a larger aspect as well. India does not have the luxury of being selective in opening up in its quest for market access from others. The alternative to a full integration with the global economy is near total isolation. Given the stakes that domestic players in other sections of the economy have built up from the process of opening up initiated over the last decade, this is by no means a realistic option.

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