The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has issued two revised accounting standards in the wake of the Satyam fraud, to enhance the quality of audits. The first, the SA 500, which takes effect from 1 April 2009, outlines the norms for gathering and evaluating audit evidence, on which the final audit findings are based. Under this regulation, a chartered accountant will have to go further than verifying the balance sheet. The second, the SA 720, is the first of its kind to be issued by the institute that has already introduced guidelines for auditors to examine company annual reports and other documents. In a statement, the ICAI said the SA 720 'requires the auditor to read such other information to identify any material inconsistencies vis a vis the audited financial statements since these can undermine the credibility of those financial statements and the audit report thereon'. This standard will be effective from 1 April 2010. The move comes at an important time for auditing standards in India, with the fallout of the Satyam fraud highlighting significant discrepancies among auditors. In the UK, the Auditing Practice Board has also issued a draft consultation paper on auditor ethics, following its Audit Inspection Unit reports, which demonstrated that certain areas of audit needed to be amended.