Context

Instances of financial/ accounting frauds and serious corporate governance failures have become endemic in today’s corporate world, leading to huge erosion in shareholder wealth. On most occasions, such irregularities and failures are detected very late, when it becomes impossible to rewind the clock and undo damage that has already been done. Recent cases of financial/ accounting irregularities have demonstrated that several early warning signals (like disclosures made in the ‘notes’ to  the financial statements) are often not recognised by the Board of Directors (“Board”) and other gatekeepers of governance – thereby raising serious questions regarding their effectiveness.Continue Reading Why do Boards fail to catch ‘sub-sonic sounds’ within the Organisation?

Mergers & Acquisitions

Context

Convergence of the Indian Accounting Standards (“Ind AS”) with the International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) can be regarded as the most significant milestone in the Indian accounting paradigm, which has fundamentally altered the rules for the preparation and interpretation of financial statements (“FS”) as also the ground rules for structuring M&A deals.Continue Reading How crucial is knowledge of Ind AS while negotiating an M&A deal?

True and Fair

Context

Forewarned is forearmed” is the cardinal principle underlying company law jurisprudence around the world and the foundation of all disclosure requirements.

Section 129(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”), provides that the financial statements (“FS”) shall give a ‘true and fair view’ of the state of affairs of the company, comply with the accounting standards notified under Section 133 of the Act, and also be in the form provided for different classes of companies in Schedule III of the Act.Continue Reading How True is ‘True and Fair’ View?

SEBI Delisting Regulations 2021

The SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2021 (“2021 Regulations”), were notified on June 10, 2021. The new regulations do not substantially deviate from the SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2009 (“2009 Regulations”). However, certain incremental changes are introduced that further refine and streamline the delisting process. The key changes effected by the 2021 Regulations, with specific reference to voluntary delisting offers, are as follows:Continue Reading SEBI Delisting Regulations, 2021