Tag: Corporate Social Responsibility
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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…
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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 svarma@post.harvard.edu) Enclosed below is the link to my latest article titled…
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RBI Sub-Committee on Microfinance
With several legal and regulatory issues affecting the microfinance sector lately, more so in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had appointed a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Y.H. Malegam to “study issues and concerns in the microfinance sector in so far as they related to the entities regulated…
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CSR: Not Mandatory After All
A couple of months ago, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) announced its intention to include a mandatory provision for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Companies Bill. The issue of regulating CSR using the stick of a mandatory provision was the subject-matter of critique, including on this Blog. The Government appears to have taken…
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Movement Towards Mandatory CSR
A few weeks ago, we discussed the Government’s proposal to introduce mandatory provisions regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR). A press release issued yesterday by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs suggests mandatory provisions for CSR will be included in the new company legislation. The release states: In response to the overwhelming concerns shown by the Standing…
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Bits of Interest
1. SEBI and Auditors: It was reported a few days ago that the Bombay High Court has allowed SEBI to proceed with its enquiry against the auditors in connection with the Satyam scam. The judgment is now available on the Bombay High Court website. 2. Satyam Saga: With all the accused persons now having been…
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Viability of Mandatory CSR
CNBC reports on a proposal by the Government to require companies to introduce mandatory CSR spending: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) spends will now be made mandatory for corporate India, sources in the Ministry of Company Affairs told CNBC-TV18. If approved, companies will have to spend 2% of the average net profit on CSR. Mandatory CSR…
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Risk Management Systems
1. In this column in the Mint, I attempt to stress the importance of systems for managing risk in the modern corporation. 2. In this post, Professor Jayanth Varma discusses whether systems and controls may have prevented the peculiar case of “a drunken broker (Steven Perkins) who bought $520 million of crude oil futures sitting…
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The Social Cost of Corporations
Recent events, both in India and elsewhere, have thrown the spotlight on the roles and responsibilities of companies in society. In an interesting article “The Conscience of Capitalism” in Forbes India, Arun Maira discusses (in a non-technical fashion) the difficulties in pinning responsibility for wrongdoing by a company. Pertinently, he notes that while the “limited…
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Mutual Funds as Activist Investors
On several occasions, discussions on this Blog have pointed to the inadequacy of shareholder activism (spearheaded by institutional investors) in India, and have therefore called for greater participation of institutional investors in governance processes. A circular issued by SEBI on March 15, 2010 addressed to mutual funds and asset management companies represents an important step…
