FROM THE DESK OF CHAIRMAN
Diyas are God’s way of telling you that there will always be a light to drive away darkness…May the light of diyas spread joy to your life. Happy Diwali
Dear Professional Colleagues,
As autumn sets in after the festivities of Durga Puja and Dusshera, ushering in Diwali & Chatth and as yearend compliance dates get extended by the various regulatory authorities for Professionals, I pray to the Almigthy to bless all of us with all vigour to encounter the new rules, regulations and the queries of the stakeholders w.r.t to the occurring changes. I would also like to inform you that CS Sandip Kr Kejriwal, Past Chairman, EIRC of ICSI has been elected to the Central Council from Eastern Region in the elections held in September 2021.
Friends, in the month of October we organised 31st Regional Conference of Student Company Secretaries on the theme “Indian Culture as a root of Corporate Governance” on Saturday, the 02nd of October, 2021 at Calcutta University Institute Auditorium, Kolkata to commemorate 152nd Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The speakers during the technical sessions and they spoke on Interpersonal Skills, Motivation, Interview Skills, Corporate Governance. CS Nikhil Israni organized a Quiz for the participants and An informative souveniur was released on the occasion which was edited by CS Rajat Agarwal. The technical sessions was followed by a vibrant cultural programme and prizes were awarded to winners of various competitions during Student Month.
October is a very significant month for ICSI, her members, students and all its stakeholders for it is on the 04th of October, 1968 that the ICSI was formed and established and it is in commemoration of this event that the Foundation Day of the ICSI is celebrated with great fanfare on the 04th of October each year. The Institute celebrated its 53rd Foundation Day at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi. Hon'ble Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman was the Chief Guest of the occasion. ICSI also inaugurated its 05th ICSI Overseas Centre in Australia, by the gracious hands of the Hon'ble Finance Minister on 04th October, 2021. On the occasion, the EIRC of ICSI organized a Walkathon on the theme “Fit India-Fit ICSI”. We also illuminated the building of ICSI EIRC on the occasion of ICSI Diwas.
I am pleased to inform that EIRC celebrated Rashtriya Ekta Diwas through online mode for the students of the region. The EIRC organised Regional Round and Eastern India Regional Round of following Competition of Students of ICSI on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. The competitions were Elocution Competition, Essay Writing Competition, Poster Making Competition, Slogan Writing Competition The Winner of Eastern India Regional Round will participate in National Round of Competitions and will compete with teams of other regions.
Friends, on 30th of October, The EIRC of ICSI organised Full day Seminar on “Diversified Role of Company Secretary” at Hotel Park, Kolkata. The Chief Guest of the inaugural session was Shri D Bandopadhyay, Regional Director (Eastern Region), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India who addressed the participants. The speakers during the technical sessions and they spoke on SEBI Regulations, ADR Mechanism, Start-up & PE Funding, NBFCs. The seminar was appreciated by all participants.
It is our endeavor to continuously update and enhance the knowledge of our students through training programmes like MSOP, EDP, ODOP. In this difficult times we have conducted continuous Class Room Teaching for the newly registered students. We also have been doing Career Awareness Programmes for the benefit of students of schools and colleges in the Eastern Region. I hope with all of your continued support we would able to achieve more in the coming days.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Finance, SEBI and other regulators has been bringing out amendments and relaxations to the stakeholders at large and I have tried to enlist some important changes in the past month which are as follows:
- ● Extension of time for holding Annual General Meeting for the Financial Year ended on March 31, 2021
- ● Extension of tenure of the Company Law Committee
- ● Extension of last date of filing of Cost Audit Report to the Board of Directors under Rule 6(5) of the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014-reg.(General Circular No. 15/2021, dated September 27, 2021)
- ● e-booklet - Boost to Ease of Doing Business and Investment in the Country - Decriminalization of offences under the Companies Act, 2013
- ● Revised guidelines for Liquidity Enhancement Scheme in the Equity Cash and Equity Derivatives Segments
- ● Alignment of interest of Asset Management Companies (‘AMCs’) with the Unit holders of the Mutual Fund Schemes
- ● Linking of PAN with Aadhaar
- ● Position Limits for Currency Derivatives Contracts
- ● Introduction of T+1 rolling settlement on an optional basis
- ● SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2021
- ●Clarifications with respect to Circular dated April 28, 2021 on ‘Alignment of interest of Key Employees (‘Designated Employees’) of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) with the Unit holders of the Mutual Fund Schemes’
- ● Risk Management Framework (RMF) for Mutual Funds
- ● SEBI Board Meeting (PR No.28/2021 dated September 28, 2021)
- ● Swing pricing framework for mutual fund schemes
- ● ‘Guidelines for Investment Advisers’ - Extension of timelines
I take this as an opportunity to place our record appreciation for CS Nagendra D. Rao, President, the ICSI and CS Devendra V. Deshpande. Vice-President, ICSI for their continuous contribution towards Professional Development. It’s heartening to share with all of you that because of their efforts, Company Secretary in Practice are recognised under the International Financial Services Centres’ Authority (Registration of Insurance Business) Regulations, 2021 & International Financial Services Centres’ Authority (Insurance Intermediary) Regulations, 2021. We are also thankful that the representation sent by ICSI on 26th October 2021 for the extension of time –limit filing of E-Forms was accepted by MCA and the Ministry vide Circular No. 17 /2021 dated 29th October 2021 provided relaxation on levy of additional fees in filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4, AOC-4 XBRL, AOC-4 Non-XBRL and MGT-7/MGT-7A for the financial year ended on 31.03.2021 under the Companies Act, 2013.
Through this Newsletter I once again appeal to all the members, who have not yet enrolled for the Company Secretaries Benevolent Fund, to become proud member of the Benevolent Fund. The detail of CSBF is published elsewhere in the newsletter for your reference. The EIRC of ICSI is organizing various professional development programs November, 2021 on the various topics of professional interest for our members in Physical mode and I request all of you to attend all these programmes. Our members have also contributed articles, which we have presented in our ICSI EIRC Newsletter for the benefit of the stakeholders. I look forward to your valuable suggestions and feedback. Feel free to interact with me at my mail id.
Stay Safe and Take Care
With warm Regards,
CS Sudhir Kumar Banthiya,
Chairman, EIRC of ICSI
E-Mail – sudhirbanthiya@rediffmail.com
