Sebi moots corporate governance norms overhaul for listed companies, wants checks on CEO pay, hefty penalties

Market regulator Sebi today proposed wide-ranging overhaul of corporate governance norms for listed companies, through measures like checks against unjustifiable CEO pay, greater powers to minority shareholders, an orderly succession planning and hefty penalties for non-compliance.

Besides, the regulator has also proposed a new concept of 'Corporate Governance Rating' by independent agencies to monitor the level of compliance by the listed companies and regular inspection by Sebi and stock exchanges.

In a discussion paper for proposed changes in the corporate governance norms for listed firms, Sebi has also proposed measures for a greater oversight by and on independent directors, as well as greater alignment of CEO salaries with the performance and goals of the company.

Sebi said "that, on average, the remuneration paid to CEOs in certain Indian companies are far higher than the remuneration received by their foreign counterparts and there is no justification available to that effect."

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has also proposed mandatory disclosure by the listed companies of ratio of remuneration paid to the each of their directors and their median staff salary.

Such a disclosure has already been proposed in the Companies Bill 2012 for all public companies, but Sebi has proposed such a provision for listed companies in advance, along with a number of other Corporate Governance measures contained in the proposed Bill that is awaiting final Parliamentary approval.

Sebi said that it is seeking to adopt better global practices through these proposals without increasing the cost of compliances by a huge margin.

"... at the same time, it is necessary to bring back the confidence of the investors back to the capital market, for channelising savings into investment, which is the need of the hour," Sebi said.

The regulator also said the current regulations provide for actions like delisting or suspension of a company's shares, adjudication for levy of monetary penalty, prosecution and debarring of promoters and directors from the markets in case of non-compliance.

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