Comment on the following: Corporate Governance is looked upon as a distinctive brand and benchmark in the profile of Corporate Excellence

Corporate Governance is looked upon as a distinctive brand and benchmark in the profile of Corporate Excellence. This is evident from the continuous amendments/ modifications of guidelines, rules and regulations by SEBI for ensuring transparency and accountability. In the process, SEBI had constituted a Committee on Corporate Governance under the Chairmanship of Kumar Mangalam Birla. The Committee in its report observed that "the strong Corporate Governance is indispensable to resilient and vibrant capital markets and is an important instrument of investor protection. It is the blood that fills the veins of transparent corporate disclosure and high quality accounting practices. It is the muscle that moves a viable and accessible financial reporting structure. Based on the recommendation of the Committee, the SEBI had specified principles of Corporate Governance and introduced a new clause 49 in the Listing agreement of the Stock Exchanges in the year 2000. SEBI notified the Listing Regulations with SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 replacing the earlier listing agreement. The Companies Act, 2013 which provides for a major overhaul in the Corporate Governance norms for all companies. Further as a good governance initiative and with a view to consolidate and streamline the provisions of listing agreement of the capital market and to align the provisions relating to listed entities with the Companies Act, 2013.