The Central Government has re-promulgated the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019.
The Ordinance is to amend the companies law to further improve the ease of doing business as well as ensure better compliance levels.
Since the Bill to make amendments to the Companies Act, 2013, is pending in the Rajya Sabha, the ordinance has been re-promulgated. The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill on 4th January.
Last week, the Cabinet cleared the proposal to re-issue the ordinance.
The twin objectives of the Ordinance are the promotion of Ease of Doing Business along with better corporate compliance. The main amendments are as under;
Recommendations related to corporate compliance and corporate governance include re-introduction of declaration of commencement of business provision to better tackle the menace of ‘shell companies’; greater disclosures with respect to public deposits; greater accountability with respect to filing documents related to creation, modification and satisfaction of charges; non-maintenance of registered office to trigger de-registration process; and holding of directorships beyond permissible limits to trigger disqualification of such directors.
To amend the Companies Act, the government had first issued the ordinance in November and the same would have ceased to be operational from January 21.
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