The Hindu Business Line : Company secretaries to form global body

THE company secretary institutes of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya and India have decided to join forces under aegis of International Federation of Company Secretaries (IFCS). At a roundtable to discuss the issues concerning the profession held here on Sunday, the institutes agreed to come under one umbrella once the globalisation of the services take place.

"The constitution for IFCS was framed and adopted at the roundtable," Mr Mahesh Anant Athavale, President, Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), said. The headquarters of IFCS will be located at the ICSI headquarters at New Delhi.

Mr Athavale has been unanimously elected as the President of the IFCS and Mr Pir Muhammad A. Kaliya of Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan (ICSP) was elected as the Vice-President. Mr N.K. Jain, Secretary of ICSI, was elected as Secretary.

After discussing the growth of the profession in the respective countries, the participants expressed the need for closer and regular cooperation among company secretary bodies to enable the profession to meet the challenges of globalisation of services under WTO and GATS, Mr Athavale said. The workshop unanimously adopted a resolution on the lines passed by the council of ICSI for creation of a separate head for corporate governance and company secretaries services under the Services Sectoral Classification of WTO.

"The Heads of the Institutes were of the unanimous view that the respective Governments of their countries should take up the matter before WTO. This will enable the members to have better recognition company secretary services," he said.

Those present at the international roundtable were the President of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Managers of Bangladesh (ICSMB), the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK), the President of the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan (ICSP), and the President of the ICSI.

Mr Muzaffar Ahmed, President of Bangladesh Institute, Mr J.W. Wambua, Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Institute, Mr Pir Muhammad A Kaliya, President of Pakistan Institute, Mr Qaiser Perwaiz Mufti, Senior Vice-President of Pakistan Institute and Mr Mahesh Anant Athavale, President of the Indian Institute, along with Council Members of ICSI and the Secretary participated in the roundtable.