Sebi overhauls corp governance norms; seeks MF tax breaks

Listed companies will now need to keep a check on excessive executive pay among other new 'corporate governance' measures, while mutual fund investors can look forward to tax breaks on investments up to Rs 2 lakh.
In sweeping changes to the way listed companies are governed in India, regulator Sebi today also asked them to follow an orderly succession planning, put in place whistle- blower policy for employees, have at least one woman director, get public shareholders' nod for related party transactions and carry out performance evaluation of all directors.
The new corporate governance norms were approved by Sebi board at a meeting held here today, wherein a long-term policy was also cleared for the Rs 9-trillion mutual fund industry while proposing tax benefits to the tune of Rs 50,000-2,00,000 for those investing in such products.

After the board meeting, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said that the tax related proposals would be sent to the government for due consideration, while new corporate governance norms would become applicable for all listed companies with effect from October 1, 2014 pursuant to being incorporated in the listing agreement.
Sebi has been of the view that CEO salaries in some Indian firms have been higher than even their global counterparts and do not reflect true financial positions of the firms.
Sebi also made the KYC (Know Your Client) compliance easier for investors by allowing various kinds of intermediaries such as brokers and mutual funds to access the investor KYC details from the centralised KYC Registry Agency (KRA), rather than carrying out a fresh KYC process.

The new corporate governance norms also require greater oversight of and by independent directors, limits number of directorships of board members, prohibits award of stock options to independent directors and excludes 'nominee directors' from the definition of independent directors.
Besides, these proposals include expanded role of audit committee, greater disclosure of remuneration policies, mandatory constitution of nomination and remuneration committees chaired by an independent director.