NISM-CII-BSE Conference on “Corporate Governance for Listed Companies” April 12, 2019 | Kolkata
The School for Corporate Governance (SCG) of the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Bombay Stock Exchange of India Ltd (BSE) had organized a Conference on Corporate Governance for Listed Companies on April 12, 2019 at Kolkata. BSE Ltd and Sumedha Fiscal Services Ltd were the sponsors for the programme.
SEBI had introduced the new governance code for publicly listed companies in May 2018 based on the recommendations of the Uday Kotak Committee. As some of the major provisions relating to Board composition are effective from April 1, 2019, the Conference was organized to impress upon the Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors, Independent Directors, Company Secretaries and other stakeholders about complying with these changes.
Mr Bijay Murmuria, Director, Sumedha Fiscal Services Ltd, welcomed the dignitaries and requested the participants of the Conference to take benefits out of the knowledge and rich experience of the experts and practitioners.
Dr. V.R.Narasimhan, Dean, NISM, explained the participants about the theme of the Conference and requested Board of Directors to break from the routine and give serious attention to governance issues by rightly highlighting the issues in the Board meetings.
Mr A K Banerjee, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, IFB Agro Industries Ltd, while delivering the inaugural address, highlighted the growing appetite of investors preferring to invest in companies exhibiting good governance standards. He also underscored the need for transparency in disclosures and accountability of the Board of Directors to create long term value for shareholders.
Mr Taposh Roy, Company Secretary, Vesuvius India Ltd, while sharing the industry experience, spoke about the “Form and Substance” of complying with the new Regulations and he emphasised the need to move away from tick-box approach to compliance.
Mr M Krishnamoorthy, Member of Faculty, NISM, discussed how globally companies are evaluated on the basis of their scores on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters. He shared with the participants. He further added that in order to improve investor confidence, the listed companies should exhibit high standards on quality of disclosures and transparency in the selection process of independent directors.
Mr Khushro Bulsara, Senior General Manager, BSE Ltd, gave an elaborate presentation on the stock exchange perspective of compliance with listing norms. He also explained to the participants about nitty-gritty of the SEBI Circular on Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
Shri Pradeep Ramakrishnan, General Manager, SEBI, deliberated with the participants on the latest changes in SEBI LODR, more particularly the provisions relating to Board Composition, Institution of Independent Directors and the role of various Committees.
Mr Jayanta Jash, Chief General Manager, SEBI, was the Chief Guest and delivered the valedictory address. Mr.Jayanta while explaining the rationale behind the amendments, underlined the role of Board of Directors and Company Secretaries in ensuring compliance in both letter and spirit. He requested listed companies to rise above standards by setting long term goals and was of the view that profitability will follow if companies exhibit good governance standards.
Mr T B Chatterjee, Chief Corporate Officer, Tax Connect Advisory Services LLP and Secretary, CII, delivered the vote of thanks.
