We are aware that there are more important factors than the qualifications or legal criteria in deciding who will be better directors for providing board leadership and better governance in corporates.

Factors such as the integrity, quality, independence, judgment, knowledge and experience count while acquiring and applying skills of better directorship. Our programmes equip professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills so that they are able to contribute effectively as corporate directors, especially as independent directors.

On the new syllabus.

The institute is aware of the fast changing knowledge and skills requirements for top grade corporate professionals that are in demand today and will continue to be so in the future. Taking inventory of the demands on company secretaries 10 years down the line, the institute constituted a syllabus review committee and adapted a new syllabus to be implemented from 2008.

Adopting contemporary nomenclatures for the three courses to be offered for company secretaryship, the new syllabus will term the three stages as Foundation Programme, Executive Programme and Professional Programme.

Apart from rationalising the present syllabi to make them more contemporary and relevant to the needs of corporate, the new syllabus also introduces new concepts and papers, new emphasis and futuristic trends. While too theoretical and quantitative topics are given a go-by, those who pursue company secretaryship under the new syllabus will also acquire the path to mastery over intricacies of corporate finance, international economics and developments, corporate sustainability, ethics and governance and due diligence techniques.

On the new training templates.

Corporate professionalism comes not only from contemporary theoretical grounding and knowledge base; it also requires acquisition of practical skills, life skills and corporate cultural intelligence. The institute has designed new training templates for students who pass the Professional Programme before they acquire Company Secretaryship qualification.

Under a memorandum of understanding with Symbiosis Institute of Management, the institute will be able to provide training in not only current corporate work of all kinds but also in critical skills like leadership, communication, presentation, group discussion, public speaking, negotiations and cultural integration.

The aim is to enable company secretaries excel in adding value to corporate functioning in mergers, takeovers, international trade and finance, corporate communication and public relations.

Bio:

Ms Preeti Malhotra, a fellow member of the ICSI (1991), did her graduation in commerce and law from Delhi University. Elected as the first woman President of the institute, she is the Group President–Corporate Affairs and Company Secretary of SpiceCommunications Ltd, a cellular service provider.

Ms Malhotra was a member of the Dr JJ Irani Expert Committee constituted by the Ministry of Company Affairs for inputs on the new company law. An ex-officio member of National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards in India (NACAS), she is also the member of the Governing Council of National Foundation for Corporate Governance.