[Divyanshu Sharma is a 3rd Year BA LLB (Hons.) student at National Law University, Delhi] The debate regarding the disparity in director remuneration between professional and promoter-group directors has been reignited in a recent study conducted by Institutional Investor Advisory Services. The study has unearthed numerous instances wherein the remuneration granted to promoter CEOs in India is 50...
Voluntary Separation of Chairperson and MD/CEO Roles: Analysing SEBI’s Recent Move
[Priankita Das is an undergraduate student pursuing B.A. LL.B. (Business Law Hons.) at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow] By way of its board meeting on February 15, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) amended its mandate on the separation of the roles of chairperson and managing director/chief executive officer (“MD/CEO”) of listed companies to be...
Separating Managing Director and Chairperson: An Economically Sound Decision by SEBI?
[Adhip Ray is a 5th year BA.LLB (Hons.) student at Amity Law School, Kolkata and is the founder of the startup consultancy WinSavvy.com and is a consultant for Patent Professional Corporation (Patent PC), an intellectual property law firm based out of California.] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had, in its March 2018 board meeting, approved an amendment to the Securities and...
New Materiality Threshold for RPTs: Nagging Questions on Shareholder Approval
[Vinita Nair and Sikha Bansal are Partners at Vinod Kothari & Company, Practicing Company Secretaries] Related party transactions (RPTs) are perceived as potential tools for unjust enrichment of those in a fiduciary capacity. Hence, SEBI has recently revamped RPT norms (most of which are to take effect from 1 April 2022) intending to impose a greater scrutiny on RPTs. With the above, all...
Journal on Governance: Call for Papers | Volume V Issue 1
[Announcement on behalf of the Journal on Governance] National Law University, Jodhpur is an institution of national prominence established under the National Law University, Jodhpur Act, 1999 by Rajasthan State Legislation. The University is established for the advancement of learning, teaching, research and diffusion of knowledge in the field of law. About the Journal The Centre for Corporate...
Bombay High Court Order in the Zee-Invesco Case: A Critical Analysis
Among the current wave of shareholder activism in Indian companies is the effort by Invesco, an investor in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, to replace members of the board of directors of Zee, including to remove the company’s managing director and CEO. In September, Invesco, which holds 17.88% of Zee’s equity shares, requisitioned the board to call for an extraordinary general meeting...
Managing Significant Transactions & Arrangements with Subsidiaries: Part 2
[Himanshu Dubey and Payal Agarwal are with Vinod Kothari & Co. Part 1 is available here] Basis for assessment – standalone or consolidated? Having dealt with the parameter to be considered for various transactions, another question that may arise is whether the total revenues or expenses or assets or liabilities, as the case may be, have to be considered on a standalone basis or on a...
Managing Significant Transactions & Arrangements with Subsidiaries: Part 1
[Himanshu Dubey and Payal Agarwal are with Vinod Kothari & Co.] The seamless flow of information between a holding company and its subsidiaries is imperative for effective governance at the level of a corporate group. Since listed companies in India often function with complex structures with a number of subsidiaries, it is not feasible for the holding company to deliberate upon all the...
Directors’ Liability and Climate Risk in India
Climate change has garnered significant attention given that it poses a serious challenge to sustainable development. No longer is it merely within the domain of voluntary conduct on the part of corporations. Instead, it is a material financial risk that corporations encounter, thereby imposing duties on the boards of directors of corporations to recognise and address climate risk. In “Directors’...
Looking Beyond Gender to Make Corporate Boardrooms Diverse in India
[Harsh N Dudhe & Pranay Bhardwaj are III year BA LLB (Hons) students at NALSAR, Hyderabad. The authors would like to thank Dr. Akshaya Kamalnath for her comments on the post] On August 6, 2021, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a proposal by the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq), which aims to enhance the corporate board diversity for Nasdaq-listed companies. This...
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