ROC goes fishing for companies with subsidiaries beyond two layers

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Munmi Phukon, Principal Manager, Vinod Kothari & Company (corplaw@vinodkothari.com)

The country had witnessed the bulk of show cause notices sent to companies last year seeking evidence on their CSR expenditure, reporting, disclosure etc., though the Ministry’s stand on such notices and replies thereof is not yet known. After CSR, MCA has now seemed to shift its surveillance to the layers of Indian companies and recently started issuing show cause notices to the companies. As claimed in such notice itself, the basis of the same is the annual return filed by the companies. What concerns the most at this time is that, when most of the companies in the country are busy with convening the ensuing AGMs, the preparation/ documentation of bulky reports, aligning themselves with the recent amendments made in the corporate laws, be it the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017 or the Listing Regulations, the show cause notice is posing as an additional burden. Read more →

LIQUIDATION BEFORE RESOLUTION?

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By Richa Saraf (resolution@vinodkothari.com)

A survey by World Bank[1] pointed out that it took 10 years on an average to wind up/ liquidate a company in India as compared to 1 to 6 years in other countries. Such lengthy time-frames are detrimental to the interest of all stakeholders. The process should be time-bound, aimed at maximizing the chances of preserving value for the stakeholders as well as the economy as a whole.

Report of the Expert Committee on Company Law– “Restructuring and Liquidation”[2] noted that the Insolvency law should strike a balance between rehabilitation and liquidation. It should provide an opportunity for genuine effort to explore restructuring/ rehabilitation of potentially viable businesses with consensus of stake holders reasonably arrived at. Where revival/ rehabilitation is demonstrated as not being feasible, winding up should be resorted to. Where circumstances justify, the process should allow for easy conversion of proceedings from one procedure to another. Read more →

Clarity amidst Chaos! Government to home in on parameters to define “shell companies

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Furniture rental startups: A financial perspective

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Estimates peg the global furniture rental market at anything between $5-8 billion. Leasing/renting of home durables has seen steep growth. The idea of ownership has been superseded by the desire to gain better experiences by renting or sharing resources. Whatever the absolute numbers, the growth in mobility and intra-country migration suggests that there is a large and ever growing clientele of urban professionals with transferrable jobs and disposable income. Increasing numbers of furniture and appliance rental startups have sprung up to cater to this clientele. This article takes a quick look at the market and its potential in time to come. Read more →