As the members undertaking bank central and/ or branch audits of nationalized banks are aware, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has prescribed the illustrative formats of audit reports of banks as well as bank branches, which are in line with the requirements of the RevisedStandard on Auditing (SA) 700, Forming An Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements.  (The Revised SA 700 is mandatory for auditors of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 1st April 2012.) 

These illustrative formats are a part of the 2013 Guidance Note on Audit of Banks (available on ICAI’s website www.icai.org).  Members are requested to issue the bank/ bank branch audit reports as per these revised formats only.

It may also be noted that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has already discussed the issue relating to the revised audit report formats for banks and bank branches with the Reserve Bank of India.