Corporate Governance Regulations

NYSE Corporate Governance Standards applicable to NYSE
Listed Companies

Corporate Governance Rules as per SEBI Listing Regulations

An NYSE listed company needs to have a majority of independent directors. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.01]

The board of a listed company must have a combination of executive and non-executive directors, including at least one female director, and not less than 50 percent of the board of directors shall comprise of non-executive directors. The board of directors of the 500 largest listed entities, as determined by market capitalization at the end of the most recent financial year, were required to have at least one independent female director by April 1, 2019 and the board of directors of the 1,000 largest listed entities, as determined by market capitalization at the end of the most recent financial year, were required to have at least one independent female director by April 1, 2020.

No listed entity shall appoint a person or continue the directorship of any person as a non-executive director who has attained the age of 75 years unless a special resolution is passed to that effect, in which case the explanatory statement annexed to the notice for such motion shall indicate the justification for appointing such a person, if: (i) the chairperson of the board of directors is a non-executive director, at least one-third of the board of directors must be comprised of independent directors; (ii) the company does not have a regular non-executive chairperson, at least half of the board of directors must be comprised of independent directors; and (iii) the regular non-executive chairperson is a promoter of the listed company or is related to any promoter or person occupying management positions at the level of board of director or at one level below the board of directors, at least half of the board of directors of the listed company must consist of independent directors.

The requirements under the SEBI Listing Regulations which become applicable to a listed entity on the basis of market capitalization criteria continue to apply to such entity even if when it falls below the specified thresholds.

A director must meet certain criteria in order to qualify as “independent”. An NYSE listed company must disclose the identity of its independent directors and the basis upon which it is determined that they are independent. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.02]

A director must meet certain criteria in order to qualify as an “independent director”. The appointment, reappointment or removal of an independent director of a listed entity, shall be subject to the approval of shareholders by way of a special resolution. No independent director, who resigns from a listed entity, shall be appointed as an executive or whole-time director on the board of the listed entity, its holding, subsidiary or associate company or on the board of a company belonging to its promoter group, unless a period of one year has elapsed from the date of resignation as an independent director.

Non-management directors need to meet at regularly scheduled executive sessions without management. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.03]

The board of directors of a listed company must meet at least four times a year, with a maximum time gap of 120 days between any two meetings. The independent directors of the listed company must hold at least one meeting in each fiscal year without the presence of the non-independent directors and the members of management, and all the independent directors have to endeavor to be present at such meeting.

An NYSE listed company needs to have a nominating/corporate governance committee composed entirely of independent directors. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.04]

A listed company needs to have a nomination and remuneration committee. The nomination and remuneration committee shall comprise of at least three directors and all directors must be non-executive directors with at least two-thirds of the directors being independent directors.

Listed companies in India are not required to constitute a separate corporate governance committee. The Companies Act 2013 and the SEBI Listing Regulations prescribe the corporate governance requirements which include, inter alia, obligations regarding the appointment of internal auditors, the constitution of the board of directors as per the prescribed composition and the constitution of an audit committee and a nomination and remuneration committee.

The nominating/corporate governance committee needs to have a written charter that addresses certain specific committee purposes and responsibilities and provides for an annual performance evaluation of the committee. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.04]

The nomination and remuneration committee must have the terms of reference specified in the SEBI Listing Regulations and the Companies Act 2013 such as formulating criteria to determine the qualifications, positive attributes and independence of directors, formulating criteria to evaluate the performance of directors, recommending to the board of directors a remuneration policy for directors, key managerial personnel and other employees and devising a policy on diversity of the board of directors.

An NYSE listed company needs to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Compensation committee members must satisfy certain additional independence requirements set forth in Section 303A.02 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual by the deadline specified therein. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.05]

The compensation committee needs to have a written charter that addresses certain specific rights, purposes and responsibilities of the committee, and provides for an annual performance evaluation of the committee. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.05]

On or before December 1, 2023, FPIs must adopt and enforce a clawback policy consistent with the requirements of NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.14. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.14]

The terms of reference and the role of the nomination and remuneration committee have been specified under the Companies Act 2013 and SEBI Listing Regulations and must include, inter alia, formulating the policy relating to the remuneration of directors, key managerial personnel and other employees, formulating criteria to determine the qualifications, positive attributes and independence of directors and formulating criteria to evaluate the performance of directors.

An NYSE listed company needs to have an audit committee with at least three members. All the members of the audit committee must satisfy the independence requirements of Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act and the requirements of NYSE Corporate Governance Standard 303A.02. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Sections 303A.06 and 303A.07]

A listed company must have a qualified and independent audit committee with a minimum of three directors as members and at least two-thirds of such members must be independent directors. In case of a listed entity having outstanding equity shares with superior voting rights, the audit committee must consist of only independent directors. All members of the audit committee should be financially literate and at least one member must have accounting or related financial management expertise.

The audit committee needs to have a written charter that addresses certain specific purposes of the committee, provides for an annual performance evaluation of the committee and sets forth certain specific minimum duties and responsibilities. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.07]

The terms of reference and the role of the audit committee of a listed company have been specified in the SEBI Listing Regulations and the Companies Act 2013 and include, inter alia, oversight of the listed company’s financial reporting process and disclosure of its financial information to ensure that such information is correct, sufficient and credible, the recommendation for appointment and remuneration of the auditors of the listed company, and the review of the auditor’s independence and performance.

An NYSE listed company needs to have an internal audit function to provide management and the audit committee with ongoing assessments of the company’s risk management processes and system of internal control. A company may choose to outsource this function to a third-party service provider other than its independent auditor. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.07]

A listed company must appoint an internal auditor to conduct an internal audit of the functions and activities of the company. The auditor must review the accounts of the company and submit a report along with financial statements of the company placed before the company in a general meeting. It is the role of the audit committee to review the adequacy of the company’s internal audit function and all internal audit reports relating to internal control weaknesses of the company. The audit committee should also evaluate the internal financial controls and risk management systems of the company.

In addition, a listed company must put in place procedures to inform board members about risk assessment and minimization procedures. The board of directors is responsible for framing, implementing and monitoring the company’s risk assessment plan. Further, the top 1000 listed companies (determined on the basis of market capitalization as at the end of the immediately previous financial year) and companies qualifying as a “high value debt listed entity” must establish a risk management committee, consisting of at least three members with a majority of them being board members including at least one independent director, and, in case of a listed entity having outstanding equity shares with superior voting rights, at least two-thirds of the risk management committee shall comprise independent directors. The board of directors shall define the roles and responsibilities of the risk management committee.

The board may delegate the monitoring and review of the risk management plan to the risk management committee.

Shareholders must be given the opportunity to vote on all equity-compensation plans and material revisions thereto, with limited exemptions. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.08]

Under the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021, shareholders’ approval is required for all equity compensation plans and material revisions thereto.

An NYSE listed company needs to adopt and disclose corporate governance guidelines. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.09]

A listed company is required to comply with all mandatory corporate governance requirements as prescribed under the Companies Act 2013 and the SEBI Listing Regulations, and disclose such compliance to stock exchanges in the corporate governance report contained in the listed company’s annual report. The listed company should also state in its annual report the extent to which it has complied with the non-mandatory corporate governance requirements. The listed entity is also required to submit a compliance report on corporate governance on a quarterly basis.

An NYSE listed company needs to adopt and disclose a code of business conduct and ethics for directors, officers and employees, and promptly disclose any waivers of the code for directors or executive officers. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.10]

A listed company needs to adopt a code of conduct (or code of ethics), which is applicable to all members of the board of directors and senior management. The company’s annual report and the yearly compliance report on corporate governance must both disclose any non-compliance with any requirement of the compliance report on corporate governance and contain a declaration signed by the CEO stating that all board members and senior management personnel have complied with the code of conduct.

The CEO of each NYSE listed company has to certify on an annual basis that he or she is not aware of any violation by the company of the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. This certification, as well as the CEO/CFO certification required under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, must be disclosed in the company’s annual report to shareholders. [NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.12]

The CEO and the CFO are required to provide an annual certification on the true and fair view of the company’s financial statements and compliance with existing accounting standards, applicable laws and regulations. In addition, a listed company is required to submit a quarterly compliance report and an annual corporate governance report to stock exchanges which must include a certificate from either the auditors or the practicing company secretary regarding the company’s compliance with the conditions of corporate governance. A listed company is also required to submit a secretarial compliance report to stock exchanges annually.