The World Bank on Monday expressed concern over the tardy pace of implementation of corporate governance laws and regulations in India and suggested a slew of measures including strengthening board practices as well as a streamlined regulatory structure to improve accountability and market discipline.
At a seminar on 'Corporate Governance: Trends in India', the World Bank Country Director, Michael Carter said that despite putting in place a series of legal and regulatory reforms, implementation was an area of concern.
"A series of legal and regulatory reforms have transformed the Indian corporate governance framework and improved the level of responsibility and accountability of insiders, fairness in the treatment of minority shareholders and stakeholders, board practices and transparency.
"Nonetheless, enforcement and implementation of laws and regulations remain important challenges," Carter said.
Listing out the "key areas" for reform, he said regulators should take steps to enhance market integrity by enforcing rules and regulations in a professional, timely, transparent and consistent fashion.
"Regulators should ensure that sanctions and enforcement are credible deterrents to help align business practices with the legal and regulatory framework, in particular with respect to related party transactions and insider trading," he said, pointing out that this would lead to greater investor confidence.
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