Govt mulls new corporate governance guidelines

The government is considering issuing new corporate governance guidelines by including good practices like tax compliance, to companies for voluntary adoption, Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily said today.

He said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha that the Voluntary Guidelines for good corporate governance were old as they were issued in 2009 and did not include tax compliance.

"These guidelines are old. We are considering issuing new ones that may include all these," he said.

Moily said the government, however, does not propose to introduce a corporate governance index as these are done by credit rating agencies like Crisil and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

"All over the world, no country, no government as such" has a corporate governance index, he said adding the present system of index being prepared by ICSI and others was working satisfactorily.

"It is not necessary for the government, ministry to step in," he said.

"The legal framework of the Companies Act in this country, as in many others, requires compliance of good governance practices by the corporates in accordance with provisions laid down in the respective legislations," he said.

Globally, no such index has been prescribed under law, he said adding Voluntary Guidelines for good corporate governance have been issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 2009 to encourage the use of better practices for voluntary adoption.