SECRETARIAL AUDIT BY COMPANY SECRETARIES IS NOT UP-TO-MARK SAYS
SEBI
SEBI DISAPPOINTED WITH
COMPANY SECRETARIES
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Capital markets
regulator Sebi today said it is "disappointed" with company
secretaries for lack of disclosures regarding actions taken by stock exchanges
in secretarial audits of companies.
"I was rather
disappointed to see that many of the secretarial audit reports did
not report on the non-compliances pointed out by the stock
exchanges," Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi said addressing
an Institute of Company Secretaries of India event here.
EVALUATION OF SECRETARIAL AUDITS BY NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE
Pointing out to an
analysis of secretarial audit reports undertaken by the National
Stock Exchange recently, he said the shortcomings included not reporting
penalties levied by stock exchanges and overlooking compliance and corporate
action events like changes in capital schemes.
QUALITY OF SECRETARIAL AUDIT SHOULD BE IMPROVED
Reminding that the
company secretaries have been entrusted with the responsibility of
secretarial audit in practice, Tyagi said, "I would urge to
further step up the quality of the secretarial audit especially for listed
companies."
"Disclosure and
reporting has become very important in recent years because of increased
emphasis on corporate governance," he said.
Submission of "quality" secretarial audit reports is the
need of the hour
Tyagi also
elaborated on the regulator's other expectations from the secretarial audits,
including submission of "quality" secretarial audit reports.
A company secretary should
"keep the dignity of the profession high, he should adopt a substance over
form approach focusing on the principles and promptly report non-compliance to
demonstrate commitment to both good governance and financial management,"
he said.
To imbibe a culture of ethics and values
Tyagi added that
there is a need to imbibe a culture of ethics and values and look at things
beyond compliance to laid down regulations.
"A culture of
integrity will have to be developed that permeates all levels of operation. A
stronger ethical culture will also strengthen investors' faith in capital markets,"
Tyagi said.
"If the company secretary is
diligent, the quality of corporate governance in India can
become at par with the rest of the world," he added.
Courtesy
: Business Standard
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