Private companies should be brought under secretarial audit

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India has already represented to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to bring private limited companies under the ambit of secretarial audit under the new Companies Act, its president R Sridharan said here today.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the private companies should also be mandated to have Key Managerial Personnel (KMP), comprising Managing Director, Chief Financial Officers and company secretaries under the Act and added ICSI had represented the Centre to have KMPs in private companies.
All companies with a capital of Rs 5 crore and above are required to have KMPs under the previous Companies Act, Sridharan said and made it clear that the secretarial audit would focus only on the non-finance aspects and would in no way overlap with the regular financial audit of a company.

Stating that KMPs are needed to ensure focus on governance and compliance, he said 5,000 listed companies have to now mandatorily appoint KMPs and in all, nearly 20,000 companies should appoint KMPs now.
Sridharan said ICSI would commence a three-year full-time integrated company secretaryship course on a pilot basis from next month, which would have 50 students, selected through an entrance exam, group discussion and interview.