Corporate India has witnessed several regulatory and structural reforms in the area of Corporate Governance in the last few years. The most significant ones have been the move from the Companies Act, 1956 to the Companies Act, 2013 (CA 2013), and the coming into effect of SEBI LODR Regulations, 2015 (SEBI LODR), in place of....
Audit is an unbiased independent examination and evaluation of a process. It is most commonly used in the context of audit of financial statements of a company, but there can also be audit of the operations and processes of a company, or an audit of the legal compliances. The purpose of audit is to determine....
The Board of Directors, or Board, is at the apex of any company. It comprises a group of individuals, who are elected by shareholders, to represent and safeguard their interests. The Board is responsible for holding the management of the company accountable, and for putting in place policies, processes and control mechanisms, to ensure checks....
The canvas of Corporate Governance is very large. However, there are some important issues that should not be lost sight of. These are – Conflict of Interest: Conflict of interest arises when a person/entity promotes his/her/its interest at the cost of that of the company. While law requires that conflict of interest should be avoided, identification and....
A ‘Standard’ is a repeatable, agreed upon and documented way of doing something. It contains certain specifications or criteria, which are to be used as a rule or guideline to increase reliability. India essentially follows a rules-based approach to Corporate Governance. These rules come in the form of law (the Companies Act, 2013) and regulations....
Board evaluation is a formal periodic evaluation of the Board as a whole, its committees and individual Directors (including Chairperson). The raison d’être of this evaluation is the improvement of the performance of the Board, its committees and individual Directors. It seeks to identify areas of improvement, so that the Board can consciously work on....
One of the biggest risks that is confronting companies is the risk relating to the inadequacy of cyber security. It is much more than an IT issue. It is an enterprise level risk management issue. With Work-From-Home being the norm at present, and a rise in number of data breaches, this has become a permanent....
A class action lawsuit, also known as class suit or representative action, is a type of lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of persons, who are represented collectively by a member of that group, generally called a “lead plaintiff”, against a defendant or a number of defendants. This suit differs from a traditional lawsuit,....
Corporate Governance is doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons, and in the right manner. Why is Corporate Governance Needed? To ensure that the company is run in a lawful and ethical manner. To make sure that there is transparency in the business processes. To ensure the independent functioning of....
In current times, as the spotlight on boardrooms continues to intensify, the functioning of Boards is seeing some change.It has been noticed that quite a few steps have been, and are being, taken to enhance the diversity of backgrounds, experiences, genders and perspectives in the boardroom. The boards are focussing on new areas of expertise....