Umakanth will be familiar to readers of this blog, as he posts on corporate law and policy issues on LAOT. He is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS). He specializes in corporate law and governance, cross-border investments and financial sector regulation. While his work generally encompasses the Asian markets, his particular focus is on India.
He has co-authored a book on Singapore corporate governance, published articles in international journals and founded the Indian Corporate Law Blog. He has also taught on a visiting basis at the Fordham Law School, New York and the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He is the recipient of several academic awards: the Lee Kong Chian Scholarship (at NUS), the Hauser Global Scholarship (at New York University School of Law) and eight gold medals (at the National Law School of India University). Prior to his foray into academia, Umakanth was a corporate attorney in India with the leading corporate law firm of Amarchand Mangaldas, where he was also a partner.
Details of his talk are as under:
INDIAN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AT THE CROSSROADS: WHAT NEXT?
The concept of corporate governance, which relates to the systems by which companies are directed and controlled, has received significant recognition in India over the last decade. Within the short period, however, they have not only been prone to constant change but their efficacy has also been subjected to severe stress testing by way of corporate scandals such as Satyam. Regulatory responses to such episodes have tended to be incremental by fine-tuning existing norms.
The speaker suggests that the current corporate governance model, borrowed largely from the U.S. and the U.K., may not altogether fit within the corporate structures prevalent in India. This is an opportune moment to reconsider India’s model of corporate governance and to develop one that resonates well with Indian business values and practices from the standpoint of economic, social, and political factors.
