India - Ministry of Corporate Affairs Announcement

On 31 March 2011, the MCA issued a Circular mandating all listed companies and certain unlisted companies, to file their balance sheet and profit and loss account (financial statements) for the year ended 31 March 2011 onward using an XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format. In the initial phase, the MCA mandate applies to:

• All companies listed in India and their subsidiaries, including overseas subsidiaries
• All companies having a paid up capital of INR 5 crores or above, or a turnover of INR 100 crores or above

The following sectors have been exempted from submitting their annual returns in XBRL:

• Banking, Non-banking Financial companies (NBFCs)
• Insurance, Power
• Overseas subsidiaries of the above company types

Recent MCA Update

In a further update issued by the MCA, all companies falling in Phase-I class of companies (excluding exempted class) are permitted to file their financial statements without any additional fee up to 30th November 2011 or within 60 days of their due date, whichever is later. Further, in a subsequent circular dated July 7th 2011, MCA has mandated that verification and certification of the XBRL document of financial statements would continue to be done by authorized signatory of the company as well as professionals like Chartered Accountants or Company Secretaries or Cost Accountants engaged in a whole-time practice.

The financial statements required to be filed in the XBRL format would be based on the existing Schedule VI of the Indian Companies Act, and the currently prevailing Indian Accounting Standards. A filing deadline of 30 September 2011 has been notified. Failure to adhere to the timeline may result in imposition of additional filing fees.