Company Secretaries Act, 1980 amendments through Parliament...
On the lines of the amendments to the Chartered Accountants Act, which we carried yesterday, the Company Secretaries Act is all set to be amended.
Some important changes are
• Provisions for an institutionalized Disciplinary Mechanism
• providing for an Appellate Authority headed by a person, who is or has been a judge of a High Court
• establishment of a Quality Review Board, which would also include outside experts to review the quality of services provided by the members of the Institute;
• providing enhanced autonomy to the Council in the matter of fixing various fees within prescribed board limits;
• provisions for bringing transparency in financial affairs of the Institute and preparation of annual financial statement (the budget) by the Council
• enabling the members of the Institute to form multi-disciplinary firms and offer multi-professional services in a competitive and commercial manner.
• appoint a Director (Discipline), establish a Disciplinary Directorate, constitute a Board of Discipline, Disciplinary Committee, and Appellate Authority, and establish a Quality Review Board. The expenditure in this regard is to be borne by the Council of the Institute and there shall be no expenditure of recurring or non-recurring nature from the Consolidated Fund of India.