What trends do you see in law, policy & regulation space in India?

MK: Law, Policy & Regulation go hand in hand with the trends of Economic Growth, Development and Rule of Law. The trends of law and regulation front would now be to firstly identify pain points in the bigticket laws under implementation i.e. IBC, Companies Act, 2013, Arbitration laws, RERA, GST etc. and secondly to achieve an inclusive & sustainable growth at a much faster pace. The reforms in the latter class includes digital governance, innovation, natural resources and environment.

What particular areas of focus do you see in the upcoming oversight regime in the digital space?

MK: Our laws have to keep pace with India’s need to be competitive and integrated to the global trade value chain which requires fast paced shift to digital integration of our manufacturing and services. Aligning processes with optimal use of Big data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things & Blockchain to enhance strategic competitiveness will be key for India’s growth story over the next decade apart from giving deeper focus on innovation, for which we will need to swiftly put in place, an enabling policy & legal eco-system on innovation, digital & data governance and blockchain.

What do you see as the direction and focus of reforms in the natural resources & environment?

MK: India is blessed with vast wealth of resources below the soil which need to be optimally exploited to deliver development to every household while safeguarding environmental concerns. Development is not merely an expectation but a right. 37% of India’s imports comprise of metals and mineral products while India is sitting on resources many times over. Development upwards is never possible till we dig deeper for the resources, be it Smart Cities, Make in India or Start-up India as the high costs remain a burden due to dependence on imports. We see the revamping of the policy framework on a deeper role of private sector in natural resources and environment as a priority area going forward.

What trends do you see on strengthening Rule of Law in India?

MK: From the Rule of Law perspective, considerable focus is expected to be on fast-track dispute resolution and make India the best in class venue for arbitration and dispute resolution. Changes to the specific relief law and arbitration law for considerably improving of enforcement of contracts and make India a preferred hub for international arbitration are underway. But, further reforms would follow to increase accountability of boards of directors and effective pursuit and prosecution of white collar criminals.

What do you see as the key trends and challenges in the IBC?

SB: The next set of reforms in IBC are expected to be of changes recommended by the Insolvency Law Committee on CIRP by corporate debtors earlier this year along with regulations for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Do you think amendments made so far and forthcoming ones would act as additives to the code’s objective?

SB: Yes. With every amendment to the Code, the legislation looks to reduce the litigation cost and bar willful defaulters. The objective being to find a time-bound resolution for ailing and sick firms, either through closure or revival, while protecting the interests of creditors, a successful completion of the resolution process was expected to aid in reducing rising bad loans in the banking system.

How would changes impact on aspects like corporate guarantors, eligibility criterion etc.?

SB: The current amendment has tightened the eligibility criteria for bidders of large NPA accounts along with adding an additional pressure on promoters acting as personal guarantors to corporate debt. A less visible squeeze has set the ball rolling for notifying insolvency rules for corporate guarantors.

How do you see challenges in the Real Estate sector after RERA and going forward?

SB: Bringing a completely unregulated sector into a regulatory framework was bound to be a challenging one with states and center both having a room to play with. We are continuously handholding our clients in the maze with different states having differing implementing norms with nearly 14 states not even having a RERA portal in place and states like West Bengal deviating from the framework with its own changes.

Challenges of title and ownership remain at the core of real estate sector though some states like Telangana & Andhra Pradesh have been progressive to rely on blockchain to map the title and ownership of land. Standardization of Stamp duty still continues to be a challenge. All in all, RERA has been a step in the right direction but a lot more is expected on legal framework changes front.

What reforms do you see in Corporate Governance and functioning of Boards in India?

MK: Without taking names, the challenge with Boards is that we are still to get past the era of symbolic governance. Conflict of interest challenges are at the core of the problem. Ownership and management are not the same but are used interchangeably in India. Independence of the independent directors decides the fate of how responsive a Board is. The Kotak Committee report recommendations accepted by the SEBI will be a welcome development to meet some of these challenges.