Area of work ยท VI
Regulatory Representation
Preparation and submissions before the Registrar, regional directors and other statutory authorities.
A notice from a regulator is a request to explain, usually against a deadline. The reply becomes part of the record on which any later decision is made, so it needs to be accurate, complete and consistent with everything the company has said before.
Where this arises
- Show-cause notices and inquiries from the Registrar of Companies and the Regional Director.
- Queries from the Reserve Bank of India on foreign exchange matters.
- Notices from GST and other tax authorities.
- Adjudication of penalties, compounding of offences, and proceedings before tribunals.
- Disputes between shareholders or promoters that reach the National Company Law Tribunal.
What the work involves
Reading the notice closely to identify the provision invoked and the allegation actually made; collecting the record; drafting the reply and annexures; preparing the hearing file; applications for compounding and adjudication; and appearing before the authority or tribunal where the law permits a company secretary in practice to do so. Where a dispute is involved, part of the work is advising on whether it should be pursued at all.
Points that are often missed
- Time limits for replies and appeals are strict, and extensions are not automatic.
- Admissions made casually in a first reply are hard to withdraw later.
- A reply to one authority should be consistent with what has been filed with another.
- Most corporate disputes are won or lost on the quality of the company’s records.
- Compounding can bring a matter to a close, but it needs the default to be corrected first.