The Heart of the Matter!

Welcome 2024 ! It is unbelievable that we are just a year short of completing a quarter century. Incredible transformations have taken place in this period at such a never-before exponential pace,  that many a times we are left gasping for breath ! Sometimes in amazement, sometimes in anxiety, sometimes in fear, sometimes catching up, sometimes in despair, sometimes in joy and at times unable to even fathom what the changing world means to us !! 

In all of this, what remains constant is human bonding and the deep relationships that we forge with each other. Relationships must be seeded, nurtured and carefully grown over the years. They cannot be built by having friends on social media whom we cannot recognise when we meet. They may be a platform to connect but to grow, it takes efforts and years. Well, having said this, for me personally 2023 was a year of leveraging relationships built over the years. 

Someone said “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.”  Whether for the huge office renovation project that we undertook in 2023, or for the new areas of professional practice that we expanded into, or the just concluded wedding in the family, all that I had to do was dip into my network of trusted friends and family. And lo and behold, the builder was found, architect identified and the office was transformed into a unique green working space that all of us are proud of. Same with the professional friends who extended a collaborative hand for taking up new assignments. Wedding is a huge project that could be executed flawlessly as an eco-friendly initiative, thanks to the neighbourhood flower decorators, client turned waste management partners and green champions, caterers and music artistes that were traced back to old connections and even the domestic support staff that rose to the occasion.

The ‘people power’ that I enjoy gives me strength and courage to face life’s challenges and I vow to give it back in equal measure to others. But remember, as Rumi said “Our greatest strength lies in the gentleness and tenderness of our heart.” I am incredibly grateful to the affection and support received from a wide spectrum of people that made 2023 a memorable one for me.  Have you paused and reflected, what or who made the year gone by a memorable one for you ? 

On the professional front, it is pertinent to note that during 2023, the regulators were extremely active giving corporate India enough fodder to strategise and act. As well as to carry content in the 12 issues of Samhita ! Just between MCA, SEBI and RBI we carried about 65 notifications / circulars / regulations. Compliance expectations are only getting higher for sure. Here’s a quick recap of important ones that we carried from 284th to 295th issue during 2023:

• 45 forms released in MCA V3 and Several Rules Amended
• Strike off of companies centralized 
• Guidelines on Default Loss Guarantee in Digital Lending market
• PMLA Rules introduced for Practising Professionals
• Disclosure of material events and information under regulation 30 of SEBI LODR
• Voluntary delisting of non-convertible securities
• Dematerialisation of securities 
• SBO compliance for LLPs
• Valuation norms under Angel Tax Provisions
• Mandatory linking of PAN with Aadhaar
• Changes in insolvency process for corporate
• Karnataka Stamp Act Amendment Bill

For any previous issues of Samhita and the readers’ feedback, please visit
https://sharadasc.com/samhita/

Warm wishes for a memorable and fulfilling New Year 2024!