Mergers, demergers and other forms of corporate restructuring are usually effected through a scheme of arrangement that not only requires the approval of different classes of shareholders and creditors, but also the sanction of the relevant court of law. The provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, specifically sections 391 to 394, contain an elaborate framework to give effect to such schemes of...
Rule Change for E-Voting
[The following guest post is contributed by Nidhi Bothra and Vinita Nair, Vinod Kothari & Co, Corporate Law Services Group. The authors can be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected] respectively] Under the erstwhile system of holding general meetings, the resolutions were put to vote by way of show of hands or a poll could be demanded. Since only such members who were...
FCRA: CSR by foreign companies
[The following guest post is contributed by Swati Rampuria at Vinod Kothari & Co. She can be contacted at [email protected]] Introduction The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (‘FCRA’), regulates the receipt and utilization of foreign contribution by certain persons and also disallows acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution for certain activities. Being a special...
Electoral Reforms: Political Contributions by Companies
In the past, we have had a chance to discuss various issues pertaining to election campaign financing by the corporate sector (here, here and here). Last week, the Law Commission of India issued its Report No. 255 on Electoral Reforms that, among other matters, touches upon reforms in the area of corporate financing of political parties. In this post, I briefly examine some of the key issues. Of...
Guide to Staff Loans under the Companies Act, 2013
[The following guest post is contributed by Munmi Phukon at Vinod Kothari & Co. The author can be contacted at [email protected]] One of the incogruities in the Companies Act, 2013 (Act, 2013) has been section 186 which subjected companies to certain threshold limits while giving loans to any person or other body corporate. However, the provisions were not explicit as to whether the term...
Is provisioning a necessary precursor to CSR spending?
[The following post is contributed by Prachi Narayan and Swati Rampuria at Vinod Kothari & Co. They can be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected] respectively] Introduction Corporate social responsibility (‘CSR’) was made mandatory by Companies Act, 2013 (‘Act’). Al though it has been a year since this concept has entered the Indian corporate regime, still there are...
Definition of ‘Remuneration’ Under the Companies Act, 2013
[The following post is contributed by Nivedita Shankar, who is a Senior Associate at Vinod Kothari & Company. She can be contacted at [email protected]] As the financial year 2014-2015 approaches its end, companies are gearing up to meet the “many” requirements pertaining to preparation of board’s report in line with the new Companies Act, 2013 (‘Act, 2013’). Amongst the other...
Report on Bankruptcy Law Reforms
The state of bankruptcy law in India continues to leave much to be desired, and adds to the difficulties in doing business in the country. Several previous efforts have been undertaken towards reforms, but they have either been introduced on a piecemeal basis or have not entirely been successful. With this in mind, the Government had last year appointed the Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee (BLRC)...
Paper on the Historical Evolution of Corporate Law in India
I have posted a paper on SSRN titled “The Evolution of Corporate Law in Post-Colonial India: From Transplant to Autochthony”. The paper seeks to track the evolution of corporate law in India from 1850 all the way until the enactment of the recent Companies Act, 2013, and to examine the different forces which were at play at important points in time that shaped the nature of the law. The abstract...
Bonus Debentures: Features and Implications
[The following post is contributed by Prachi Narayan of Vinod Kothari & Company. She can be contacted at [email protected].] Introduction The reward of being a shareholder is singular: share in profits of the company. A few widely known forms of corporate rewards include cash dividends, bonus shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, warrants and options, of which cash dividends and...
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