Indian Corporate Law Service — BrandWiki

Indian Corporate Law Service

title	Indian Corporate Law Service
headerstyle	background:#3b444b; color:#fff;
header1	Service Overview
label2	Abbreviation
data2	ICLS
label3	Founded
data3	1967 (Reconsituted as an Organised Civil Service in 2008)
label4	Headquarters
data4	Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
label5	Country
data5	🇮🇳 India
label6	Training
data6	ICLS Academy, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Manesar, Haryana
label7	Cadre Controlling Authority
data7	Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
label8	Minister responsible
data8	Minister of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
label9	Legal Personality
data9	Governmental; Civil Service
label10	Duties
data10	Regulator of Corporate Sector in India
label11	Cadre Size
data11	291
header15	Head of the Civil Services of India
label16	Cabinet Secretary
data16	T. V. Somanathan, IAS

The Indian Corporate Law Service (Hindi: भारतीय कॉरपोरेट विधि सेवा), abbreviated as ICLS, is one of the Central Civil Services (Group A) and it functions under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. The service is entrusted with the responsibility of the implementation of Companies Act, 1956(now repealed), Companies Act, 2013 and the Limited liability Partnership Act, 2008.

History

Created in the year 1967 as a service to administer the Companies Act, 1956 as the Company Law Service, it was renamed as Indian Company Law Service in the year 2002. The service functioned under Ministry of Finance (Department of Company Affairs) till 2004, after which an independent ministry by the name Ministry of Corporate Affairs was created to administer the Corporate Sector in India.[1] The service was renamed as Indian Corporate Law Service in 2008 and was brought into the fold of Civil Services Examination.[2] The first batch of Officers recruited through Civil Services Examination were inducted in the year 2009.The decision to bring the service ICLS into the fold of civil services was instrumental for regulating the complex corporate landscape which is getting evolved day by day.

Recruitment and Training

The Officers of Indian Corporate Law Service are recruited via two modes - Direct Recruitment and Departmental Promotions. Members belonging to Group B Posts such as Company Prosecutors & Senior Technical Assistants, employed with the Ministry are gradually promoted to ICLS after completely mandated residency period within their own services. The current ratio of two streams is kept at 3:2.

ICLS Academy

The ICLS Academy, located at Manesar, Haryana Campus of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), provides training to Officer Trainees (OTs) to familiarize them with provisions of Companies Act, Limited Liability Act, Partnership Act and other corporate laws, Indian Penal Code, book keeping & accounts, etc. over a period of almost 20 months.

In addition to the classroom training the POs are also provided hands on training in various offices across India.

1) The Academy has entered into an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shri Ram College of Commerce for imparting training to the freshly inducted ICLS Officer Trainees in various subjects such as Introductory Accounting, Advanced Accountancy, Advanced Auditing, Corporate Finance and Corporate Valuation, Financial Derivatives and their Accounting, etc. to equip them with the conceptual and practical knowledge as well as necessary skill set.[3]
2) The Academy is in tie-up with National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), Mumbai, a public trust established in 2006 by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the regulator of the securities markets in India, organized 10 teaching day(s) programme on 'Understanding Securities Laws' for the ICLS Officer Trainee(s). The programme is aimed at capacity building of the officers by providing them with vital inputs on the role of SEBI and about the various regulations governing securities markets. The training programme also includes technical sessions on different topics related to securities markets and mock trading in simulation lab. The training also included visits to Stock Exchanges such as Bombay Stock Exchange, Clearing Corporations and Depositories, which provided the participants valuable practical exposure.
3) Training Program on Forensic Accounting, Big Data Analytics using CAAT Tools and Fraud Detection” by Digital Accounting & Assurance Board, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
4) Attachment with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, wherein the Officer Trainees are provided with up-to-date insights, methodologies, and practical approaches necessary for effectively managing the intricacies of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. The expert faculty imparts a thorough understanding of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), including its nuances and practical application, to the officers using case studies to illustrate key concepts pertaining to different processes i.e. the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, Liquidation Process, voluntary liquidation, fast track resolution process, individual insolvency, and individual bankruptcy. The officers are introduced to various components of IBC ecosystem, namely, Adjudicating Authority, Insolvency Professional, Insolvency professional Agencies, Information Utility, Financial Creditors, Operational Creditors, Registered Valuers and Financial Service Providers.[4][5]
5) The Officers also undergo a 2-3 week foreign study tour at National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, wherein a wide range of topics relating to international & comparative corporate law with a particular focus on Singaporean Corporate laws, regulations and practices are covered. The officers visit Singapore Exchange for understanding its role as a market regulator; the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and NUS Business School. To provide greater insight from industry practitioners, NUS Law also invites expert speakers from the private sector to engage with the officers on subjects such as international financings and Indian Companies, Indian Companies & their interaction with international capital markets other critical regulatory matters.[6]

Work profile

The role and functions of all the above-mentioned posts are defined either in the Companies Act, 2013 or in rules made by the Central Government in exercise of the powers delegated to it through the act. For instance, posts such as Regional Director, Registrar of Companies, the Official Liquidator, etc. are statutory posts, but posts such as the Director General of Corporate Affairs or Director of Inspection and Investigation are posts created by the Central Government in exercise of its powers. Apart from the traditional roles, ICLS officers in their capacity as ROCs in their respective jurisdiction are members of State Level Coordination Committees,[7] Regional Economic Intelligence Committee, Market Intelligence Groups and several other groups sharing Economic Intelligence data with other Government Intelligence and law enforcement agencies. In J&K, ROC is a member of Terror Monitoring Group (TMG), set up by MHA to share information amongst the group members, which are all the enforcement agencies including IT, CGST, CBI, IB, JKP and ROC. ICLS Officers also work on special projects[8][9] and with the state governments on deputation.[10][11][12][13]

A brief description is provided below:

Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Headquarters, New Delhi

The ICLS officers posted at the Headquarters discharge various functions such as framing of policies, rules/regulations, issuing notifications and circulars, implementation of e-Governance in the Ministry, handling and supervising legal and court matters, to examine inspections and investigation reports and issuing appropriate orders, etc.

Director General of Corporate Affairs (DGCoA)

The office of DGCoA was constituted in 2008. The offices is headed by an ICLS officer of Higher Administrative Grade Scale, assisted by two ICLS Officers designated as Directors (Inspection and Investigation) of Senior Administrative Grade Scale. The office is also entrusted to be overall supervision matters relating to the Companies Act, 2013 and LLP Act, 2008.

Regional Directors

The Regional Director supervises the functioning of Registrars of Companies and Official Liquidators that fall within their jurisdiction, and is usually the senior most ICLS Officer in that region. There are seven Regional Directorates spread across the country, each having jurisdiction over multiple states and Union Territories. The RD has several quasi-judicial powers such as allowing mergers & amalgamation of certain categories of companies, issuing orders for approving shifting of the registered offices of a company and compounding of certain categories of offences committed either by the companies or officers of the companies. Further RD also has the appellate power over the adjudication orders passed by the Registrar of Companies against defaulting companies and their directors. The ICLS officers posted as Assistant Director or Deputy Director or Joint Director conduct and supervise inspections and investigations