JOIN USImplement bankruptcy law: FM to officials
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday directed his officials to take action for implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 in a “time-bound” manner.
The government is aiming to make the new bankruptcy law operational by the end of 2016-17, as India moves to set up the infrastructure necessary to implement its new insolvency framework. But implementation of the new code that seeks to replace several existing archaic legislations is seen as a daunting task for the government, as it is dependent on creation of an ecosystem, including insolvency professionals, information utilities, tribunals and a bankruptcy regulator, called the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
To this effect, the government will focus on making the national company law tribunal (NCLT) operational, and also act as the regulator, till it sets up the Insolvency Board.
The finance minister wanted an immediate action on the key requirements for the IBC, including setting-up of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), notifying Rules and Regulations relating to Insolvency Professionals (IPs), Insolvency Professional Agencies (IPAs) and Corporate Insolvency among others.
Jaitley asked the officials of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to notify NCLT Benches to deal with Corporate Insolvency, take action for registration of IPs and IPAs among others. Jaitley chaired a meeting attended by Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Anjuly Chib Duggal, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Tapan Ray, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance, RBI, and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), among others.
Parliament passed the IBC, paving the way for a new bankruptcy framework that will make it easier for companies to do business in India by ensuring time-bound settlement of insolvency and faster turnaround of businesses.