The Companies Bill, 2009, that is currently pending with the parliamentary standing committee could get tabled in Parliament by the end of the year, corporate affairs secretary R Bandyopadhyay said on Wednesday.
?We are hopeful that the committee will give its report by Monsoon Session. The ministry will take two to three months. By the end of this year hopefully we will have a new Act,? Bandyopadhyay told reporters at the sidelines of a CII organised event.
The Bill, that was re-tabled in the Parliament last year, has proposed some far reaching changes to increase shareholder democracy and create more transparency among corporate houses in the country. In December 2009, the ministry introduced a list of voluntary guidelines on corporate governance that would complement the Companies Act in creating a framework for enlightened regulation.
A team of corporate affairs officials are slated to meet the chairman of the standing committee on the Companies Bill on June 15 to work out some of the changes. Currently, the committee is headed by former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha. A senior government official told FE that the government is still open to suggestions from various stakeholders. ?The Companies Act will finally be for the people. We are still open to suggestions,? the official added.
At the backdrop of the Rs 8,000 crore Satyam scam, the government worked overtime to stitch a Bill which would address the regulatory loopholes in the existing act. According to sources, the corporate affairs ministry has already started a dialogue process with market regulator Sebi to jointly conduct probe with the ministry to track the end use of IPO money.
Last month, Bandyopadhyay had told FE that the ministry is also starting a full-fledged investor awareness scheme under which over 3,000 workshops would be conducted across the country. The ministry is also planning an India Investor Week in July with a two-pronged agenda: to educate investors and encourage them to move away from the traditional investment vehicles.
Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid had earlier indicated that the Bill would address several investor concerns including creating a framework to empower investors. Currently, the ministry is working towards tweaking key provisions in the Act to clearly define the disgorgement clause that deals with investor compensation in case of an IPO related scam.