Strengthening Corporate Governance in India A Review of Legislative and Regulatory Initiatives in 2013-14

The passing of the long awaited Companies Act in 2013 is probably the single most important development in India’s history of corporate legislation, next only to the monumental Companies Act 1956 which it replaces. While significant improvements have been effected in required standards of corporate governance, there is also some concern regarding overly increasing compliance and regulatory costs and efforts for companies as well as their independent directors. Among the major provisions of the Act are those of restraining voting rights of interested shareholders on related party transactions, recognition of board accountability to stakeholders besides shareholders, and extension of several good governance requirements to relatively large unlisted corporations. The author (Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Founding and former Chairman, and Advisor of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore) acknowledges with gratitude the very helpful comments and suggestions of Afra Afsharipour, Sharad Abhyankar and Nawshir Mirza.