India’s new company law is “more friendly” in some ways than the old 1956 version as regards doing business, Afra Afsharipour, Professor of Law, University of California Davis School of Law, has said.

Afsharipour, who has authored a publication for the recently formed Directors’ Collective, felt that the new company law was more responsive to what was happening on the ground in India.

The latest company law (enacted in 2013) provides for some flexibility in corporate structuring besides bringing innovations such as a one-person company, she noted.

The new publication titled ‘Handbook on Corporate Governance in India: Legal Standards and Board Practices’ provides in a comprehensive manner the requirements that apply to companies in India and where there might be challenges with respect to meeting some of those.

“This handbook raises questions about areas. It does not convey where you (India) should go. It demonstrates the significance of changes that have occurred in India over time, places the current rules within a historical context and also from an evolutionary perspective”, Afsharipour told BusinessLine here.

The Directors’ Collective — which has been created recently—has brought together the globally renowned ‘The Conference Board’ in partnership with KPMG, Law Firm Khaitan & Co and Russel Reynolds, which is a global leader in assessment, recruitment and succession planning for Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officers.

On whether the new law would enable India to improve its ‘ease of doing business’ ranking, she felt that there were a lot of other things that India needed to look at outside the Companies Act.

“They (Indian government) are already doing that and we already are seeing improvement in India’s ranking”, Afsharipour said.

Matteo Tonnello, Managing Director-Corporate Leadership, The Conference Board, said in the coming weeks and months, the Directors Collective’ will begin to roll out a number of thought leadership and benchmarking products to accompany the handbook.

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