During the months of June – August 2017, the Registrars of Companies have struck off the names of 200,000 (Two Lakhs) Companies under section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013 from their registers. The list is available on the websites of various RoCs. In continuation, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in his speech at ICAI on CA day has hinted for scrutiny of 300,000 (Three Lakhs) Companies, which can be struck off u/s 248(1) in future. As a result of the above the Directors of the said Companies have been disqualified as per section 164 of the Act which has restricted them from accessing their Companies bank accounts. Also the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has blocked the DINs of all the disqualified directors under Companies Directors Identification Number Rules,…

Delay in projects being one of the main reasons leading to the foundation for introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) along with some other reasons such as, diversion of funds to other projects; changes in regulations by relevant authorities; sell projects to investors without approval of plans; bad quality of construction. RERA is the first act of its kind which will act as real estate sector regulator. The act seeks to bring clarity and fair practices that would protect the interests of buyers and also impose penalties on errant builders. It also seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. The RERA bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10th March 2016 and by the Lok Sabha on 15th March 2016…

CSR has been recognized for the first time through the Companies Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘said Act’). Section 135 (under Chapter IX – Accounts of Companies) of the said Act deals with CSR while Schedule VII of the said Act lists out the CSR activities which may be undertaken by the companies. Who must comply? According to Section 135(1) of the said Act, CSR requirements are applicable to every company which is having: (1) net worth of 500 crore or more, or (2) turnover of 1,000 crore or more, or (3) a net profit of 5 crore or more during any financial year. The words used in section 135(1) are ‘during any financial year’ and not ‘at any time during any financial year’. This implies that the…

The Government placed the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016  to amend the Companies Act, 2013, passed 3 years ago, proposing nearly 100 amendments, purported to be for the ease of doing business. The Company Law Committee (CLC) was assigned the task to study and provide solutions to the issues arising out of implementation of Companies Act, 2013 as well as on the recommendations received from Bankruptcy Law Committee, CSR committee, Law Commission, professional bodies, chambers and other agencies. As per the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Amendment Bill, the proposed changes are broadly aimed at: addressing difficulties in implementation owing to stringent compliance requirements; facilitating ease of doing business in order to promote growth with employment; harmonisation with accounting standards, the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 and the…

One of the key features of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is the concept of “Insolvency Professional”. As per the Code, the insolvency resolution processes are to be conducted by the Insolvency Professionals, who are required to be members of an Insolvency Professional Agency which in turn is to be registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. The Code and regulations with respect to Insolvency Professionals will open up a new window of opportunities for professionals such as Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Cost Accountants and Advocates. Eligibility and Qualification As per Regulation 4 and Regulation 5 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Professionals) Regulations, 2016, if a person meets eligibility and qualification criteria can register with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India only after passing…

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been devising and enforcing various measures, from time to time, to protect the interest of investors and the sanctity of the capital market by making listed companies more accountable through enhanced disclosures. SEBI provides a platform to these listed companies by listing and trading their specified securities on the recognised stock exchanges and regulates these listed companies by making set of requirements and regulations to be followed by these companies. Till now there were different types of listing agreements for different class of securities which are being done away with the notification of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 on 02.09.2015 which encompasses all classes of securities including equity, convertible and non-convertible securities. The primary objective of…