national convention
Selvam Nadimuthu
Has anybody attended the convention, any useful news, pl foward to members pl.
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Thanks & Regards
N.SELVAM
COMPANY SECRETARY
09840087087
P.R.Kumar
Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju, PRESIDENT of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) while addressing a PRESS CONFERENCE today, stated that “The profession of Company Secretaries, during its existence for more than four decades has come a long way from being conscience keepers to compliance officers and now governance professionals. Having earned the trust and confidence of the Corporate Sector, Government and the regulators as watchdog for governance architecture, Company Secretaries are now expected to assume a leading role in guiding corporates as agents of change.”
Shri Raju added that, “the unlearning and relearning process is an inescapable consequence of new economic realities for some, while it is a lesson in survival for others and the Company Secretaries now need to graduate to a leadership position taking on new roles, values and a different approach. In this context, as increasing number of companies are facing adaptative challenges, the Company Secretaries are expected to bring in change and setting the direction of that change”.
To analyse deeply the challenges and opportunities in line with this thought process, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is organizing its 37th National Convention of Company Secretaries on November 5-6-7, 2009 on the theme “Lead Corporate India – Role of Company Secretary” at Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre, Hyderabad .
The Convention seeks to make an indepth analysis of the theme by deliberating it in four Technical sessions:
Managing Growth in Turbulent Times .
Integrity, Ethics and Governance
Best Practices in Financial /Non-Financial Disclosures
Lead The Market under Competition Regime
Shri Salman Khurshid , Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent charge) for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs , has very kindly consented to INAUGURATE the National Convention on November 05, 2009. Shri Rana Som CMD, NMDC Ltd., Hyderabad will deliver the Keynote Address.
On November 6 , 2009 a special session on “International Perspective” will be held wherein representatives of Company Secretaries Institutes from other countries will participate .
On November 7, 2009 a special session on Companies Bill 2009 will be addressed by Mrs.Renuka Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Shri Konijeti Rosaiah , Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has been requested to deliver the VALEDICTORY Address.The Guest of Honour at the Valedictory session will be Shri C Parthasarthy, Chairman & Managing Director, Karvy Consultants Ltd.
About 1200 delegates including Company Secretaries, Managing Directors, CEOs, Directors, Senior Executives and professionals from India and abroad are expected to participate in the National Convention. The three-day Convention will be addressed by Captains of trade and industry, eminent experts, academicians, senior civil servants and professionals.
Initiatives taken by ICSI
According to President ICSI “Students being the future of the profession, our priority is to ensure that students services are more effective and efficient. Institute makes all endeavour to see that they are energized and made knowledgeable and appropriately skilled, so that they are able to provide exacting solutions to corporates”. In this direction, the Institute has already implemented new syllabus and now new training template is being implemented. The Institute has also set up ICSI Students Education Fund Trust to provide financial assistance to economically weaker students with good academic record, he added.
Web-based E-Learning – CS Online Course
With a view to spreading the reach of the CS Course into remote areas and smaller towns, the Institute had launched web-based e-learning programme for the CS Foundation Programme. The response from the students has been encouraging. The video based E-Learning Modules for Executive Programme will be launched at the National Convention and we expect that more students will register and make use of the e-learning facilities. The online CS Course includes:
Web based Training (WBT)
Video Based Training (VBT)
Live Virtual Classroom (LVC)
The student trend during the previous year has been very encouraging and the student registration has substantially increased. Hence, the reach and spread of the Career Awareness programmes would be expanded to attract more students into the professional fold.
Post Membership Qualification (PMQ) Course
Every profession is recognised and identified with the quality and capabilities of its members. It has been our endeavour to intensify the efforts for capacity building of Company Secretaries in new and emerging areas. In this direction, Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju, President ICSI briefed about the new PMQ courses in Competition Law and Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring. In addition, the focus would be on organising short term courses and collaborative programmes to provide exposure to the members in diversified areas.
The Role of Company Secretaries in the Coming Years
President ICSI stated that when the present is proactive, positive and pleasant, the future of the profession is bound to be glorious. At present the vibrations from the economic meltdown are making the corporate world a bit shaky. These, though unwelcome, are the inevitable consequences of global integration. For the CS profession the current scenario provides ample opportunities for carrying forward the torch of good corporate governance and promoting the CS professionals as integrated corporate managers.
The Companies Bill, 2009 equates Company Secretary with the CEO and CFO expecting our profession to partner onerous responsibility in the corporate ladder. Corporate restructuring, cross border insolvencies, mergers and amalgamations, international tax planning, national integrated VAT system(GST), competition law and competition economics, arbitration and dispute resolution, legal and knowledge process outsourcing, knowledge management, indirect taxation and a host of other areas are emerging for Company Secretaries to excel both in employment and in public practice.
Newer and unconventional areas like financial planning, investment banking, wealth management, asset management, investment management, and private equity finance, apart from the continuing importance of corporate governance both in profit making and not for profit organizations will continue to attract and nurture Company Secretaries as professionals in constant demand, he added.
Plans in Terms of Foreign Collaborations
Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju, President ICSI opined that collaboration is the key for success in the new age. Networking, co-working and co-creation are the propellers of progress in the knowledge era. The networks have not only to be cross-professional; they also have to be cross-geographies and cross-cultures. Applying this concept, the Institute has been entering into proactive MOUs that are well thought out as mutually beneficial ways to share resources, ideas, capabilities and capacities, he added.
International Federation of Company Secretaries (IFCS)
The ICSI is a founder member of the International Federation of Company Secretaries. Realizing ICSI’s important role in the global Company Secretaries profession, the Institute along with the Institutes in Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan took the lead to constitute International Federation of Company Secretaries with its Secretariat at the ICSI, New Delhi. Nepal Institute of Company Secretaries has also joined IFCS, informed President, The ICSI.
This move will help Company Secretaries profession in different countries to come under an umbrella to build the global brand “Company Secretary”. It will also help the professionals working on various jurisdictions to pursue unitedly at the WTO and such multi-lateral forums for getting recognition World wide. The Founder Institutes of IFCS are working for mutual recognitions in each other’s countries for expanding the international base for the services of the Company Secretaries. The effort pioneered by the Institute seeks to raise the unified voice of Company Secretaries profession at global stage as the profession of 21st century, added Datla Hanumanta Raju.
WTO- GATS
To globalise the profession, ICSI has approached the Commerce Ministry to agitate at the WTO Forum for inclusion of a new Head for Corporate Governance and Company Secretarial Services under the Services Sectoral Classification List of the WTO. The Institute has also sought support from parallel Institutes in various countries of the world. The responses received from parallel Institutes abroad have been encouraging, he added.
Understanding with Sister Professional bodies
ICSI has collaborated with the ICSA, UK for mutual recognition and exemptions. With the Institutes of Company Secretaries in Kenya, Pakistan and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it is collaborating for mutual exemptions and exchange of members and students as well as research initiatives.
It has also collaborated with NLSIU, NALSAR and NISIET from Hyderabad and National Law School of India University in Bangalore for mutual research and collaborative programmes. By developing such relationships ICSI is spreading a network of opportunities for its members and students, he added.
Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju , President ICSI further informed that the Institute has also signed MOU’s with the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd., Symbiosis International University, ASSOCHAM, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry & Merchants Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kolkata and also with various Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Secretarial Standards
ICSI has been the first professional body in the world to start the process of setting Secretarial Standards for integration, harmonization and standardization of corporate secretarial practices. This enhances corporate governance standards.
Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju informed that The Institute of Company Secretaries of India has come out with ten Secretarial Standards for Good Governance viz., SS-1 Secretarial Standard on Meetings of the Board of Directors, SS-2 Secretarial Standard on General Meetings, SS-3 Secretarial Standard on Dividend,SS-4 Secretarial Standard on Registers and Records, SS-5 Secretarial Standard on Minutes, SS-6 Secretarial Standard on Transmission of Shares and Debentures. ,SS-7 Secretarial Standard on passing of resolutions by circulation, SS-8 Secretarial Standard on affixing of common seal and SS-9 Secretarial Standard on forfeiture of shares.
SS-10 Secretarial Standard on Board’s Report will be released at the National Convention. While the standards specify many timelines that are not prescribed by the Company Law, the Institute maintains that these standards do not go beyond the existing law, but complement it.
The Secretarial Standards aim at bringing more clarity in certain areas where the law is either silent or ambiguous. These do not overstep or modify the law in any way. The standards also interpret it correctly for stakeholders’ reference, said ICSI President.
The Companies Bill, 2009 for the first time prescribes Compliances to Secretarial Standards onboard and General meetings- added Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju.
Investor Education and Awareness
Investor protection and good corporate governance are the causes the Institute is pursuing with missionary zeal. “It is in this direction that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has registered the Institute under the Investor Education and Protection Fund Rules.”
Shri Datla Hanumanta Raju , President ICSI stated that the Institute has also extended its fullest support to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in all its new initiatives which include sending detailed comments and suggestions on New Company Law, representing on the Dr. J J Irani Committee, as well as MCA 21 initiative. With SEBI, it has collaborated for developing Model Listing Agreement and is working on other corporate governance initiatives.
With National Stock Exchange, it is working for corporate governance certification programmes. ICSI also signed MOU with BTI-BSE towards conducting joint training programmes on capital market. Under this MOU, ICSI & BSE have jointly organised short term course in Capital Market and seminars on Fundamental analysis.
MOU with IGNOU: Specialised B.Com & M.Com courses for students of Company Secretaryship
Today’s young generation, whom we have to attract as students of our profession for its growth, is very dynamic, time conscious and result oriented, opined Mr. Datla Hanumanta Raju and informed that the ICSI and IGNOU signed an MOU. Under this MOU IGNOU has launched specialised B.Com course with major in Corporate Affairs and Administration and M.Com. course in Business Policy and Corporate Governance, exclusively for students of Company Secretaryship and members of the ICSI. This MOU has enabled the students to simultaneously pursue B.Com with major in Corporate Affairs and Administration as they study for Executive Program for the CS Course.
The MOU with the IGNOU will enable our students and members to add gravity and polish to their professional knowledge of Company Secretaryship, said Datla Hanumanta Raju and explained that the emerging dynamic business environment demands professionals to have the amalgam of professional as well as academic knowledge to fully appreciate multi jurisdictional vision of corporate India. This MOU will certainly strengthen our profession in terms of better visibility, reach and job opportunities, added Datla Hanumanta Raju.
The Institute has emerged as major driving force in Promoting Corporate Governance in India. The Department of Public Enterprise, Government of India, in its recent directive to Independent Director included the Institute as their Knowledge Partner. IGNOU has also joined hand with ICSI for getting expert support in diversifying their Post Graduate Diploma Course in Corporate Governance and recognized ICSI as Knowledge Partner. The ICSI CG Award is one of the most Prestigious award being conferred to Corporates in India for Good Corporate Governance Practices- added Shri Raju.
Sd/-
Dr. Amita Ahuja
Senior Director
(Public Relations &
Corporate Communication)
Mob- 9717196255