Latest news with #NationalFinancialReportingAuthority
Economic Times
04-08-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Amend Companies Act to bolster ESG initiatives, set up oversight body: House panel tells MCA
A House panel has underscored the need to amend the Companies Act, 2013, to explicitly enshrine environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives as integral components of directors' fiduciary duties. The Parliamentary standing committee on finance, in a report submitted with the Lok Sabha on Monday, also urged the corporate affairs ministry to set up a dedicated ESG oversight body to combat greenwashing through specialized forensic expertise. Such a body should also formulate sector-specific guidelines, extend support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and to ensure expeditious and deterrent application of penal provisions against fraudulent ESG claims, the panel under senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said. 'The Committee are of the view that while Section 166(2) (of the Companies Act) provides a broad stroke, a direct and unambiguous legislative mandate will elevate ESG considerations to a non-negotiable strategic imperative for (company) boards, providing a clear legal bedrock for accountability in integrating sustainability into core business strategies, thereby transitioning from mere disclosure to fundamental corporate responsibility,' the panel said in the report. SFIO, NFRA performance The panel has asked the ministry to firm up a multi-pronged strategy to stamp out financial crimes at their genesis while improving the Serious Fraud Investigation Office's (SFIO's) efficiency. The panel called on the ministry to submit a comprehensive, evidence-based report detailing the impact of SFIO's referrals to other agencies and a judicial analysis of prosecutions. The committee called for swift filling of vacancies at the National Financial Reporting Authority As for the National Financial Reporting Authority, the panel flagged that only 32 out of 69 posts were filled in FY25, pushing for drawing up a road map to establish a dedicated, permanent cadre of skilled professionals for the audit has stressed the need to significantly accelerate the recruitment process to fill all vacant positions within a defined road map to fill in the NFRA vacancies, the panel said, should also address current recruitment bottlenecks by potentially reviewing and revising recruitment rules for higher echelons, where appropriate, to reduce the over-reliance on deputation. CSR oversight system The committee has urged the ministry to build a transparent and results-oriented oversight system for corporate social responsibility. Companies would then be required to submit, and the ministry to publish, analytical reports detailing the actual socio-economic impact of CSR projects, and not just the amount of such wants the ministry to create a public system to transparently track all unspent CSR funds and provide exhaustive data on all enforcement actions, including the type of non-compliance, penalties collected, and their panel flagged that the ministry's assertion that the extant CSR framework provides accurate mechanism of reporting, monitoring, penalty for noncompliance and proper utilization 'remains an unquantified claim, devoid of empirical substantiation, or performance metrics on project outcomes, utilization of all unspent funds, or specific, impactful enforcement actions'.
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Amend Companies Act to bolster ESG initiatives, set up oversight body: House panel tells MCA
A parliamentary panel urges amending the Companies Act to integrate ESG objectives into directors' duties and establish an ESG oversight body to combat greenwashing. The committee also calls for improved efficiency at the SFIO, swift filling of vacancies at the NFRA, and a transparent oversight system for CSR, emphasizing the need for empirical data on project outcomes and enforcement actions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A House panel has underscored the need to amend the Companies Act, 2013, to explicitly enshrine environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives as integral components of directors' fiduciary duties The Parliamentary standing committee on finance, in a report submitted with the Lok Sabha on Monday, also urged the corporate affairs ministry to set up a dedicated ESG oversight body to combat greenwashing through specialized forensic a body should also formulate sector-specific guidelines, extend support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and to ensure expeditious and deterrent application of penal provisions against fraudulent ESG claims, the panel under senior BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said.'The Committee are of the view that while Section 166(2) (of the Companies Act) provides a broad stroke, a direct and unambiguous legislative mandate will elevate ESG considerations to a non-negotiable strategic imperative for (company) boards, providing a clear legal bedrock for accountability in integrating sustainability into core business strategies, thereby transitioning from mere disclosure to fundamental corporate responsibility,' the panel said in the panel has asked the ministry to firm up a multi-pronged strategy to stamp out financial crimes at their genesis while improving the Serious Fraud Investigation Office 's (SFIO's) panel called on the ministry to submit a comprehensive, evidence-based report detailing the impact of SFIO's referrals to other agencies and a judicial analysis of committee called for swift filling of vacancies at the National Financial Reporting Authority As for the National Financial Reporting Authority, the panel flagged that only 32 out of 69 posts were filled in FY25, pushing for drawing up a road map to establish a dedicated, permanent cadre of skilled professionals for the audit has stressed the need to significantly accelerate the recruitment process to fill all vacant positions within a defined road map to fill in the NFRA vacancies, the panel said, should also address current recruitment bottlenecks by potentially reviewing and revising recruitment rules for higher echelons, where appropriate, to reduce the over-reliance on committee has urged the ministry to build a transparent and results-oriented oversight system for corporate social responsibility . Companies would then be required to submit, and the ministry to publish, analytical reports detailing the actual socio-economic impact of CSR projects, and not just the amount of such wants the ministry to create a public system to transparently track all unspent CSR funds and provide exhaustive data on all enforcement actions, including the type of non-compliance, penalties collected, and their panel flagged that the ministry's assertion that the extant CSR framework provides accurate mechanism of reporting, monitoring, penalty for noncompliance and proper utilization 'remains an unquantified claim, devoid of empirical substantiation, or performance metrics on project outcomes, utilization of all unspent funds, or specific, impactful enforcement actions'.
Mint
29-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
AIIB in talks with India on sovereign infrastructure project pipeline
New Delhi: Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in which India is the second largest shareholder after China, is holding discussions with the Central and state governments as well as Indian industry to finance a robust pipeline of sovereign and private sector projects, AIIB vice president Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on Tuesday. The development bank is working towards stepping up annual project financing from about $10 billion last fiscal to $17 billion over the next few years. Pandey, who is on a visit to India, said AIIB finances projects not only in traditional infrastructure, but also in digital public infrastructure, data centres, digital communication, affordable housing, health and education. AIIB already has deployed $12 billion in India, of which $1.8 billion is in the private sector. It has a loan book of about $60 billion and is aiming to step this up. 'We will closely engage with government of India, the state governments and the private sector in India,' Pandey, who had previously served as India's finance secretary and as the chairperson of audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), told reporters on the sidelines of an interaction with industry leaders organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 'We will work with all line-ministries to create a very sound pipeline of sovereign projects. Similarly, we will work with private sector players to create the pipeline of the projects where we can finance through all the options that are available". Pandey explained that AIIB's message to the Central ministries and state governments is this, 'This is your bank and you must make optimum use of the resources available.' 'Yesterday we had a detailed meeting with the secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on the water sector, including revival of many dams, the Namami Gange project and the inter-linking of rivers. We are going to have discussions with the ministries of health and power and then with the Honourable chief minister Maharashtra and state officials to discuss building a pipeline of infrastructure projects both in public andprivatesector,' said Pandey. Besides China and India, the other leading shareholders in the banks set up a decade ago are Russia, Germany and South Korea. The multilateral bank with 110 member-nations is making a strong foray into development financing as emerging economies need to invest heavily for development, especially to transition to less-carbon intensive economies. According to a Deloitte India report released earlier this month, titled 'The climate response: Tapping into India's climate and energy transition opportunity,'India would require a $1.5-trillion investment by 2030 across key areas to address the climate challenge at scale. The investments will be driven by India's efforts towards renewable energy, biofuels, decarbonization and sustainable infrastructure to combat climate change, the report said. In 2021, India committed to achieving net zero emission by 2070.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
New NFRA chief Nitin Gupta brings experience of policy and Investigations
Nitin Gupta, the new chief of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), brings years of experience in policy-making and investigations, particularly in tackling complex financial issues Listen to This Article The new chief of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), Nitin Gupta, a 1986-batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service, is no stranger to dealing with complex issues, ranging from policy-making to investigations. Gupta, who served as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) from June 27, 2022, to June 30, 2024, oversaw efforts to expand the department's digital oversight, particularly through e-verification during his two-year tenure. 'A lot of groundwork was done on e-verification during his tenure, with emphasis on using data to flag mismatches and reduce manual checks,' a senior bureaucrat said. The e-Verification Scheme,
Khaleej Times
11-02-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
NRI Biz Matters: India emerges as a destination of technologically advanced products
Question: India has always been known as a nation which provides high quality technical services. However, with the growing number of young persons, the manufacturing sector needs to grow in order to create more jobs. Is this likely to happen? ANSWER: India has made significant headway in the past 10 years, with several top international companies using the country as a manufacturing base. Manufacture of electronic goods in India was non-existent a decade ago and products which were designed outside India and manufactured in East Asian countries were sold in the country. There is now a complete transformation with more and more foreign companies setting up factories in India to manufacture their products and export them. This metamorphosis across the value chain — design, manufacturing and testing – has been made possible by the government's emphasis on import substitution and export promotion. Digitization has played an important role as products manufactured in India using artificial intelligence have ensured that the quality of the final product is of international standards. Thus, after Covid, India's footprint has grown in the global value chain. India has emerged as a destination of technologically advanced products and for developing new applications. Further, the country is co-developing many technologies with global partners based in the United States and Europe. Several joint research programmes are being undertaken with technologically advanced countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore. State governments in India are competing with each other to attract foreign investment in the manufacturing and technology sectors. This has led to the creation of more jobs for the educated and technically skilled youth, apart from employment opportunities being thrown up by Global Capability Centres set up in India by multinational companies. Question: Accounting standards in India have been different from global standards. I believe there is some debate going on in the country to upgrade Indian standards. Has there been any progress in this regard? ANSWER: The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has recently updated and revised four audit standards to align them with global norms. The notification of the revised standards is expected to be done by the government shortly through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Audit standard SA600 which has been aligned with the global standard will apply to public companies in India. This should give boost to investor confidence and ensure greater credibility to the financial data presented by publicly listed companies. The revised standards have been approved by regulators, namely, Securities & Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India, and the Comptroller & Auditor General. These standards will not apply to public sector entities and branches of Government run banks. The NFRA which has been notified as an Authority under the Companies Act is responsible for developing the ecosystem for auditors. Its objective is to strengthen inspections and enable use of technology on an increasing scale in order to fix any gaps or loopholes. Question: Do Indian tax authorities get information from Interpol in respect of persons who have fled to foreign countries to escape the tax net? Are other foreign authorities also being contacted by the Indian tax counterpart? ANSWER: Interpol is the world's largest international police organisation having 194 countries as its members. Therefore, the Indian tax department has set up a standard operating procedure for initiating requests to Interpol to give information on the current location, front entities and details of properties in respect of persons who have evaded Indian tax laws. The tax authorities in India also seek cooperation of other foreign authorities under Mutual Legal Assistance treaties which have been entered into by India with 42 countries. Indian Courts also have the power to issue Letter Rogatory (LR) seeking information from foreign authorities. The nature of requests would be to obtain evidence as well as take statements from the fugitive tax evaders. Foreign authorities have the power to undertake searches and seizures and confiscate proceeds of crime as well as recover embezzled funds. Foreign authorities are very often requested to preserve data pertaining to a tax offender. Under Double Tax Avoidance Agreements which India has entered into with foreign countries, exchange of information is routinely done in respect of tax evaders who are residents of each of those countries. H. P. Ranina is a practising lawyer, specialising in corporate and tax laws of India.
