It is believed that the treatment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was one of the key sticking points that delayed the Companies Bill, 2011. Now that there is some clarity, it would be useful to examine the relevant provisions. Clause 135 read with Schedule VII of the Bill deal with the concept of CSR. A number of requirements emerge: 1.The Bill requires large companies (determined with...
More on Mandatory CSR
While the introduction of the new Companies Bill in Parliament is eagerly awaited, one issue continues to hold a great amount of attention. Although the concept of corporate social responsibility is generally well-accepted and welcome, more voices are being heard against imposition of a mandatory requirement. Recent pieces by Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Ajay Shah and a Business Standard editorial...
SEBI Decisions on Public Offerings, Responsibility Reporting
SEBI’s board has taken decisions on certain matters involving public offerings and business responsibility reporting. As far as the public offering process is concerned, some reforms have been introduced to promote the capital markets (e.g. increasing the minimum allotment for anchor investors and creating a separate category of disclosures for venture capital funds and other funds that own...
Corporate Philanthropy: Strategies & Incentives
The Harvard Corporate Governance Forum has an interesting and detailed post on corporate philanthropy that examines the various incentives that operate in this space. The post first seeks to identify the concept of corporate philanthropy: This report focuses on corporate philanthropy, which includes direct cash giving, foundation grants, stock donations, employee time, product donations, and...
ICJ Report on Corporations and Human Rights
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a non-governmental organization headquartered in Geneva, has put out a detailed and well-researched report titled Access to Justice: Human Rights Abuses Involving Corporations, which covers the scenario in India. The abstract is as follows: The 1984 Bhopal gas disaster involving Union Carbide provoked a marked shift in perceptions concerning the...
Companies Bill Rekindled
The recent change at the helm of affairs of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has rekindled the discussion on the Companies Bill. Newspaper reports indicate that the new Bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament during the monsoon session that begins August 1. The reports also highlight some key areas recently at the forefront. It has been suggested that SEBI will be conferred powers...
Voluntary Guidelines on Environmental Social Governance
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) this week issued the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental & Economic Responsibilities of Business (ESG Guidelines), which represents a significant and substantial effort in enhancing the protection of stakeholder interests in the corporate sector. The concepts of stakeholder interests and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have...
Academic Analysis of CSR in India
Although there has been a signficiant amount of discussion about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in India, there has been little academic analysis of the concept. A new paper titled Directors as Trustees of the Nation? India’s Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Reform Efforts by Professor Afra Afsharipour fills this gap. Interestingly, it also considers the crucial...
More on CSR in the Companies Bill
(The following post has been contributed by Satvik Varma) It has been reported in yesterday’s Economic Times that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is perhaps doing away with the mandatory spend of 2% on Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”). While details of any such changes are not available on the Ministry’s website, based on the news report, it is most likely that the Companies Bill will...
Legislating CSR
(The following post has been contributed by Satvik Varma, who is an Advocate and Corporate Counsel based in New Delhi. He holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and is licensed to practice in India and in New York. He can be contacted at [email protected]) Enclosed below is the link to my latest article titled “Coercive Social Responsibility” published in the Economic Times...
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