New bill on company law in Winter Session

Bangalore, Sep 22: The new legislation on Company law based on the recommendations of the J J Irani Committee is likely to be finally introduced during the Winter Session of the Parliament.

The much talked about legislation aimed to completely overhauled the 1956 Company's Act, has been vetted by the Law Ministry after nearly a 7 month scrutiny and would now be placed for parliament's scrutiny and enactment, Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs Secretary Anurag Goel said today while inaugurating a one day fourth International Mutual Fund Summit.

He said during the Winter Session itself another legislation on Limited Liability Partnership was expected to be passed as the Standing Committee had completed its process. This legislation had been a long standing demand from the corporate sector and even Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was keen on its adoption, he added.

Mr Goel said that the Ministry would launch a website on September 27 on Investers education and Financial literacy.

On the proposed Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, a think tank of the Ministry and one stop shop for Corporate affairs to be established with an investment of Rs 200 crore, he said that several foreign universities had expressed intention to join hands with the Government so that it could emerge a model for other countries. The government has set aside Rs 47 crore for the Institute for this fiscal.

He said that the institute would be a world class one encompassing the entire gamut of corporate affairs. It would also have a centre for investor protection and grievances redressal.

Mr Goel asserted that investor protection was the utmost concern of his Ministry. Referring to various steps made to restructure the Ministry, he said that the offices of Registrar of Companies have been given a fresh look to enable them to be customer friendly. Similar changes would also be made in official liquidators office. He pointed out that MCA 21 that had been hailed by other countries also would become more transparent in the coming years.

Speaking on the occasion SEBI Member T C Nair cautioned the Mutual Funds in the Country over the entry of foreign Funds. A few applications were pending before SEBI and the going might be tough for them in the future and should be prepared to meet the challenge of entry of foreign players. He said that SEBI would not do anything to restrict this growth as the clientile of Mutual Funds had increased tremendously to 33 million with assets managed by 32 Mutual Funds crossing Rs 467,000 crore.

He said the corporate debt market was also booming in the country with the first five months of current fiscal witnessing a corporate debt transactions worth Rs 56,000 crore as against Rs 25,000 crore in 2006-07. He said more excitement in the sector was offer in the future with repos and interest futures for the corporate sector being planned. UNI