KNAV International Ltd. announces a Joint Venture with Monish Chatrath (MGC)Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 at Suites 220 & 221, Square One Mall, Saket District, New Delhi

Established in 1999, the premiere global accounting after assurance firm for Indian multi-nationals, KNAV International Ltd. comprising of over 350 professionals, has elected to team up with Monish Chatrath (as Managing Partner – MGC & KNAV Global Risk Advisory Services), a well established Risk Management and Corporate Governance Expert, with over 25 years of international experience offering services, to set up a dedicated Global Risk Advisory practice headquartered in India, for servicing clients in Canada, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, Singapore and Switzerland.

Chatrath is well regarded for his views and expertise on corporate governance, having co-authored several publications on the subject, controls assessments and change management, having successfully established financial centers, integrated organisations with varied cultures and created centers of excellence. He is an accomplished expert on enterprise wide risk management, having executed and led over 100 such assignments. He is a master strategist, who has played a crucial role in the financial and brand development of Barista Coffee and structured a historic equity infusion at a landmark valuation in this company, before playing a key role in the development of Grant Thornton and thereafter Mazars, in India, where he headed their consulting practice & markets function for 7 years and prior, handled the business risk service of Grant Thornton for 7 years in India. Demonstrating unique versatility on four dimensions – namely industries, functions, cultures and stakeholders, Chatrath is widely recognised for offering remarkable turnkey support services to his clients and organisations, which constitute the entire lifecycle of Indian and multinational organisations – startups, small, medium and large organisations, in achieving their growth and business transformation objectives, in India and overseas.

KNAV International Limited, is a fast growing international association of legal independently-owned accounting, assurance, auditing, tax, valuation, advisory and consulting firms. Their US and Canadian arms of KNAV are member firms of PKF North America, a leading association of accounting and consulting firms located in U.S., Canada and the Caribbean,  affiliated with PKF International. The last reported aggregate revenues of PKF International’s member firms was US$ 2.39 billion. Their member firms include KNAV P.A. (USA), KNAV UK Limited (UK), KNAV & Co. (India), KNAV – HAB (Netherlands), KNAV – ORFA (Switzerland), KNAV – Martine Chabert (France) and KNAV Professional Corporation (Canada).

The Joint Venture will cater to the increasing requirements for internal financial controls and enterprise wide risk management in India; SoX, SSAE 16 and SOC in the US, apart from internal audits, process engineering, forensic services and internal audits across the globe. It is intended to hire over 500 professionals in India and globally..

Chatrath’s vision for the MGC & KNAV Global Risk Advisory Services collaboration is in sync with PM Modi’s dream of “Make in India” and “Service from India”, where he proposes to cater to the requirements of clients in risk management, creating opportunities for several hundreds in India and more globally, while establishing a centre of excellence for global outfits that do not have back office support in India. He views an immense opportunity in the uncapped foreign investment expected to flow into the country, managing the immense potential of changed opportunity and supporting industry compliance with the new Companies Act, in relation to controls assessments, enterprise wide risk management and internal audits, apart from the new sword provisions relating to fraud mitigation and management.

The Companies Act in India has necessitated significant changes that not only impact the Board, Audit Committees and Management, but also other Stakeholders including shareholders and auditors, in the context of internal financial controls and enterprise wide risk management. Moreover, financial and severe penal consequences of non-compliance, companies in India are increasingly seeking expert assistance to strengthen their risk management frameworks, financial controls, fraud mitigating frameworks and internal audit functions.

Similarly in the US, in addition to SoX attestation, there is a fast growing demand for third party assurance over financial controls and IT frameworks in particular and the inner workings of organisations in general. This has led to an increase in reporting related to SoX, SSAE 16 (Service Auditors to the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16), SOC 1, 2 & 3 (which are various types of attestations of ‘service organisation controls’).

Said Khozema Anajwalla (CEO – KNAV), “We are delighted to form this joint venture with Monish Chatrath, who has a wealth of customer focus, personal commitment, international experience and professional expertise.  Given the demand for risk advisory services across the globe, the timing of this merger could not have been better.”

Elaborated Atul Deshmukh (Leader – Assurance Services, KNAV), “With this association, we are seeking to fast track the expansion of our service offerings to cover the wide ambit of risk advisory services, which are much in demand from our clients across the globe. In addition to transferring several of our professionals with risk advisory experience to the JV, we expect to hire over 500 professionals over the ensuing 3 years to cater to such requirements. Chatrath’s leadership skills and ability to achieve creditable and exponential growth makes this association a compelling strategic proposition for the KNAV network.”

Added Monish Chatrath (Managing Partner – MGC & KNAV Global Risk Advisory Services), “KNAV International Ltd. is a progressive, professionally run, well respected international organisation that has demonstrated proof of concept on ground, on business expansion and the strategic route they have undertaken. They have the best in class working practices, leading practice management systems and state of the art tools, apart from experienced resources, all of which will not only give the JV a jump start, but also ensure constant value addition to its operations over a long term.”