Cabinet clears amendments to Companies Act

The Cabinet today approved amendments to the Companies Act, 2013, that seek to ease compliance requirements and certain other provisions.
A bill to amend the Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the government in March last year and then it was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance. The panel submitted its report on the legislation in December 2016.
An official release said the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal to move official amendments to the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
"The Bill will be introduced in Parliament," the release said without providing any specific details.

This would be the second time that Modi-led government would be amending the Companies Act, 2013 which was passed during the previous UPA regime.
Various changes, including removing the limit on the number of subsidiaries and intermediaries, were proposed in the 2016 Bill.
Other changes that were proposed include those related to composition of the selection committee of the National Companies Law Tribunal and the National Companies Law Appellate Tribunal.
The Standing Committee on Finance had recommended certain changes to the Bill.