Corporate Law

The provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (the Act), and the rules framed thereunder, mandate companies to file requisite documents, including annual returns and financial statements, with the concerned Registrar of Companies (RoC) of their jurisdiction. Non-adherence to such provisions and non-filing of the requisite documents is an offence, exposing non-complaint companies and its directors to severe penal consequences, including fines and prosecution.

However, the records of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLT) would clearly reveal that a lot of companies have been non-compliant with their filings. This non-compliance has been a menace to all the stakeholders involved, including, inter alia, (i) the companies and directors who have to face penal consequences for such non-compliances; (ii) the MCA and its administration who are engaged in the process of updating the records; (iii) the public/ shareholders who do not get access to the records of the companies; and (iv) the NCLT and the office of Regional Directors, which are burdened with compounding cases.Continue Reading A Fresh Start for Companies

Claw back clauses in Employment Contracts - A new tool to fight corporate misfeasance

The 2008 financial crisis made it possible to revisit contractual clauses of employees, especially those governing remunerations of executives in financial institutions. One of the clauses that gained prominence was the clause pertaining to ‘clawback’. Broadly speaking, clawback clause refers to an action for recoupment of a loss. It means the refund or return of incentive or compensation after they have been paid. The purpose of such a clause is to claim back unfair enrichment that has happened to an employee. Such a clause acts as a form of insurance and was originally applied in cases of misstatement of financial results or fraudulent acts by employees, but over time, the scope of this clause has gradually expanded.
Continue Reading Claw back clauses in Employment Contracts: A new tool to fight corporate misfeasance

DISCLOSURE OF COVID-19 IMPACT BY LISTED ENTITIES - FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE

Across India, each subsequent phase of the lockdown has permitted a responsible increase in economic activity. As companies re-start their operations, they continue to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses and operations, which is rapidly and continuously evolving. Listed entities are particularly conscious of their disclosure obligations, more so after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) issued a circular on May 20, 2020 (the “Circular”), that outlined the relevant considerations for companies in relation to the disclosures on the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses, performance and financials. The Circular is not only a restatement of the current principle-based disclosure regime, but is also indicative of the regulatory expectation on disclosures going forward in relation to impact of Covid-19 pandemic as it evolves.
Continue Reading Disclosure of Covid-19 Impact by Listed Entities – Finding the Right Balance

Rights Issue - Regulatory to and fro on renunciation

On April 27, 2020, the Central Government notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2020 (“FEMA NDI Amendment”). The FEMA NDI Amendment seeks to modify the position on pricing of rights issue – in case of renunciation of rights in favour of a non-resident by a resident, pricing guidelines will apply. We have analysed the implications of the FEMA NDI Amendment on rights issue of securities in this blogpost.

Why Rights issue?

Rights issue has been a preferred mode of raising capital from the existing shareholders of a company as there are no prescriptive conditions on issue price. Companies have the flexibility to determine issue price in case of rights issue under company law as well as SEBI regulations (applicable to listed companies). This gives companies much-needed flexibility to structure a capital raise from existing investors, especially in times of need.
Continue Reading Rights Issue: Regulatory to and fro on renunciation?

Validity of Operational Licenses In The Wake of Covid-19 – A Grey Area

In the wake of the pandemic Covid-19, many legal and regulatory modifications have been undertaken in the country to facilitate compliances by the business houses as well as ease of doing business.

Recently, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, Real Estate Regulatory Authority, to name a few, have issued various regulations as well as amended the existing ones to suitably modify timelines and processes needed for secretarial compliances, periodic reporting, disclosure requirements, tasks to be undertaken under liquidation process etc.
Continue Reading Validity of Operational Licenses In The Wake of Covid-19 – A Grey Area!

COVID-19 - Temporary Relaxations for Corporate Compliances

The global outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented event that has led to lockdowns and unexpected restrictions on the public as well as the corporate sector across the world. In order to control its spread, the Government of India (GoI) has inter alia ordered all establishments, except organisations providing essential goods and services, to temporarily close their physical offices. Employees are working remotely, but due to difficulties faced in coordination and lack of office facilities, companies are likely to face difficulties in undertaking timely compliances of various applicable laws. Keeping in mind the aforesaid, the GoI has temporarily relaxed a number of compliance requirements for the corporate sector. We have analysed below some of the major relaxations from securities and companies law perspective.
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COVID 19 - Online Courts in India

Work from home for a litigating lawyer in India currently looks like endless hours of reading, chores and on-demand video. In this blog, we argue that this will be a short-lived state of affairs. Remote working for litigation will be operationalised soon and will become the new normal for litigating lawyers in the not too distant future.

Courts are an essential service for civil society. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, courts across the country have gone into an urgent-only, online-only mode with electronic filings, email mentions and, in exceptional cases, online hearings via video conferencing/ video calling facilities. This urgent only model of restricted judicial access is not sustainable past the initial lockdown. Courts will have to resume a full-time case load in the near future, albeit in a form that will be quite different from the way as we knew it. The urgent-only format will come to pass, with courts adopting the online-only format for its regular functioning. As a first step, the Supreme Court of India issued a suo-motu order yesterday setting out guidelines for courts to function through video conferencing during the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Continue Reading From the Gavel to the Click: COVID 19 poised to be the inflection point for Online Courts in India

Coronavirus - COVID19- Faqs

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a “pandemic” on March 11, 2020.

The outbreak and the rapid spread of COVID-19 has sent shock waves across global markets. It has disrupted supply chains, leading to the closure of several manufacturing facilities globally; serious disruption of air and sea traffic and closure of vital air routes, like the one between the US and Europe. This is turn has led to the collapse of stock markets around the world, leading to the loss of billions of dollars, which got wiped out in a matter of days. A combination of all these factors has led to a decline in the overall volume of global economic activity, forcing the world economy towards a possible recession. It is forcing Boards across the globe to confront a host of difficult questions on how business should be conducted during a global public health crisis.
Continue Reading COVID-19 : OFFICIALLY A PANDEMIC

CHAIRMAN OR MANAGING DIRECTOR SEBI Regulation

Section 203(1) of the Companies Act states that an individual shall not be appointed or reappointed as the chairperson, of the company as well as the managing director (MD) or the chief executive officer (CEO) at the same time, unless the articles of the company provides otherwise or the company does not carry on multiple businesses. Further, this restriction is not applicable to certain specified class of companies engaged in multiple businesses and which have appointed one or more CEOs for each such business.
Continue Reading Chairman or Managing Director? – Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

Contract Manufacturing - Press Note 4

The question of whether contract manufacturing constitutes “manufacture” from a foreign investment perspective is an oft debated topic in the manufacturing fraternity and many businesses have struggled with this issue for years.

“Contract manufacturing” refers to manufacturing undertaken through a third party and has a range of benefits for the principal manufacturer, including economic efficiency, scale, operational efficiencies and flexibility. For instance, if a specialised set of equipment or skills is required to manufacture a certain product, the principal manufacturer can use the facilities already available with a third party to manufacture these products, instead of investing its capital in creating these facilities for itself. Contract manufacturing also enables a principal manufacturer to utilise a contract manufacturer’s existing supply chains, linkages and labour force. If a principal manufacture has a cyclical manufacturing business, using the facilities of a third party may be more beneficial than making capital investments that may lie idle for large parts of the year. In light of these benefits, contract manufacturing as a business model is one that is preferred by many entities in the manufacturing business.
Continue Reading The Contract Manufacturing Conundrum – Press Note 4 to the Rescue?