Tag: Corporate Social Responsibility
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Business Responsibility Reporting
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The debate continues over the nature of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements that should be imposed on Indian companies through the Companies Bill, 2011, i.e. whether voluntary or mandatory. Although the Government had proposed a hybrid approach, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance appears to be keen on retaining the…
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Standing Committee Report on the Companies Bill, 2011
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] After the Companies Bill, 2011 was presented in Parliament late last year, it was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance chaired by Mr. Yashwant Sinha. The Standing Committee had previously submitted a detailed report on the Companies Bill, 2009, and most of its recommendations had found their way into the…
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Paper on CSR in India
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] While the Companies Bill, 2011 is still pending in Parliament, the provision on corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending continues to be one of the contentious issues. It is not clear what form that provision will take during the next round of the lawmaking process. The oddity of the CSR proposal in…
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More on CSR and the Companies Bill
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] We had earlier discussed the half-way house approach adopted by the Companies Bill, 2011 regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR), whereby CSR spending was not intended to be mandatory, but disclosure thereof was. It appears that there is continued resistance to this approach, and that the Parliamentary Standing Committee reviewing the Bill…
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Companies Bill, 2011: CSR
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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More on Mandatory CSR
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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SEBI Decisions on Public Offerings, Responsibility Reporting
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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Corporate Philanthropy: Strategies & Incentives
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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ICJ Report on Corporations and Human Rights
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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Companies Bill Rekindled
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…