INDUSTRY leaders have given the cold shoulder to the proposed Companies Bill by expressing discontent at the 'overburdening' of companies with regulations.
Addressing the CII's 7th International Corporate Governance Summit in Mumbai last week, Mr. Rahul Bajaj, ex-President, CII, and Chairman, CII National Council on Corporate Governance & Regulatory Affairs, said the government should not strangulate companies by burdening them with more regulations.
While acknowledging that there would always be aberrations, Mr. Bajaj asserted that this should not come in the way of trust between the government and the corporate world.
Dr M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Corporate Affairs, informed the meet that the new Bill would be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.
The Companies Bill, 2012, seeks to supplant the existing Companies Act of 1956, by framing new regulations to ensure greater shareholder democracy and stricter corporate governance norms. It also makes corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending mandatory for firms, wherein they would have to set aside 2 per cent of their profits for CSR activities in local communities.
Source : Exim News Service - MUMBAI, Sept. 18