India's Enron?

When things like this happen, several thoughts come to mind:

1. How could you do this for so long, not get noticed?
2. What's the role of the auditors? How come they didn't figure this out?
3. What's the role of the Board of Directors?

It's a sad day in general.

It's a sad day for the thousands of employees (and their families) as well as the customers of Satyam.

It's a sad day for India because rebuilding trust (once eroded) takes a lot of time. Since Satyam was traded on NYSE, there are going to be a lot of people all over the world who would be losing money. For India to be a global player, it must strengthen it's corporate governance laws and ensure regulatory and judicial bodies have the spine to ruthlessly enforce them. Today, this is lacking.

Finally, it's a sad day for global finance and the entire corporate-world. In the current global economic climate, what we need is shining examples of leadership and excellence. Not examples of cheating, cutting corners, or fraud.