Independent directors pushing Clause 49 limits

On Wednesday, the shareholders of Pune-based Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation (DFPCL) will vote on a resolution to re-appoint Shah as a non-executive, non-independent director. Shareholders of Atul Ltd also voted on a similar resolution to appoint Shah on their board at the annual general meeting on Tuesday. If these resolutions go through, DFPCL will be the 10th listed firm on whose board the senior partner of Mumbai-based law firm Crawford Bayley & Co would sit.          Nifty Trading Tips

While this in itself is within prescribed limits, Shah seems to have strolled into a grey area when it comes to independent directorships. According to the amended Clause 49 of the listing agreement that came into effect on October 1, 2014, a person cannot hold more than seven independent directorships.    Jackpot Stocks Trading Tips

However, according to data from Prime Database, Shah is listed as an independent director on eight firms as of date. These are Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care, Pfizer, BASF India, Godfrey Philips India, Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing, Abbott India, Colgate-Palmolive (India) and Lupin. In many of these companies, Shah’s relationships are decades old. According to corporate affairs ministry records, he has completed 51 years on the Procter & Gamble board. He was appointed to Pfizer board in November 1965 and BASF in 1968 He entered the Godfrey Philips board when group scion Lalit Modi was a four-year-old boy. Modi will turn 50 this November.

Shah is not alone. Prime Database showed two other directors who held eight independent directorships each, 10 months after the deadline to shed extra board positions expired.The database also showed two managing directors, one of them of a prominent housing finance firm, were in breach of another listing agreement condition that barred people holding full-time positions from being on the boards of more than three firms as independent director. Business Standard is not naming others for this story as it had not reached out to them.   Commodity Market Astrology Tips

After Business Standard first reached out to Shah on July 31, Gaurav Jain, his representative, said in an email response on August 1: “Mr Shah is an Independent director of seven listed companies. So far as Abbott India Limited is concerned, he had sometime in the past notified to them that he should be treated as non-independent director in Abbott India Limited. Mr Shah is totally committed to corporate governance and unqualified compliance.”    Stock Market Trading Tips