Friday 5 October 2012

India: company law reform - an update

The Government's Press Information Bureau reports that the Union Cabinet has agreed amendments to the Companies Bill 2011: see here. This should mean that the Bill can be reintroduced into the Lok Sabha during the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

One of the amendments approved by the Cabinet concerns corporate social responsibility. Clause 135(5) of the Bill, as originally drafted, read: "The board of every company [meeting certain size thresholds], shall make every endeavour to ensure that the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy". The Cabinet has tightened the drafting of this provision by removing the words "make every endeavour to".

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