Earlier this week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a settlement order in a case involving a company that required its employees to sign a confidentiality agreement when they were interviewed in internal investigations for allegations of potential violations of federal securities laws. The SEC decried the use of such confidentiality agreements as militating against laws that...
Guest Post: MCA Finalises Cost Audit Rules
[The following post is contributed by Nivedita Shankar of Vinod Kothari & Company. She can be reached at [email protected]] Putting all speculation to rest, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on June 30, 2014 finally came out with the final rules relating to cost audit and cost records. Although, the rules are yet to be gazetted, yet the finalized rules have surely given an...
Guest Post: MCA notification on Audit Committee
[The following post is co-authored by Yogesh Chande and Manendra Singh. Yogesh is an Associate Partner and Manendra is an Associate with ELP. Views of the authors are personal.] In terms of section 177(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 (Act) read with rule 6 of the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014 (Rules), following companies are required to constitute an audit committee:...
RBI makes 1000s of companies anxious by “Are you an unregistered NBFC?” notices
Over last week, Reserve Bank of India has sent notices to thousands – tens of thousands perhaps – of companies asking them whether they are NBFCs. And, if yes, why they have not registered. This is worrying because if a Company is an NBFC and has not registered, it entails serious consequences for the Company and its concerned directors/officers. For example, the law provides for minimum and...
Companies Bill Back on the Anvil
In July this year, the Standing Committee on Finance presented its report on the Companies Bill, 2011 suggesting some changes. The recommendations of the Committee have been discussed here. After taking into account the Standing Committee’s views, the Cabinet yesterday approved certain amendments to the Bill, which have been set out in a press release (accessible on the PIB website). From the...
CA firms with LLPs can now act as statutory auditors
(The following post is contributed by Rohan Bagai) A limited liability partnership (LLP) of chartered accountants (CAs) can now act as a statutory auditor of a company notwithstanding Section 226 (3) (a) of the Companies Act, 1956, which stipulates that a ‘body corporate’ is disqualified from such an appointment. In this regard, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has recently issued a...
SEBI’s Domain Over Auditors of Listed Companies
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court issued its judgment in the case of Price Waterhouse & Co. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India. The court ruled that SEBI possesses necessary powers to initiate investigations against an auditor of a listed company for alleged wrongdoing. Facts: A writ petition was filed before the Bombay High Court by Price Waterhouse & Co. (PWC) and some of...
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