Once the Companies Bill 2012 comes into force it is expected to spur demand for Company Secretaries in a big way, said S. N. Ananthasubramanian, President, Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

“As it is, there is a great demand for our members. This will only go up with the implementation of the new Companies Bill,” he told Business Line.

According to him, there has been a 30 per cent growth in the number of students applying for the course year-on-year. Last year, he said, over three lakh applications were received. Out of this, over 1.5 lakh students appeared for the examination for the executive programme. Of this, only 2,500-3,000 students complete the professional programme every year, he said.

Besides, ICSI is now in the process of giving its members the ‘Chief Governance Officer’ title, as they are expected to play a major role in the corporate governance space.

According to S.N. Ananthasubramanian, President, ICSI, with greater emphasis on due diligence, financial management, compliance management, corporate governance, and ethics, the new syllabus for executive and professional programmes will also be introduced for the batch beginning in 2013. He said the new syllabus for the executive programme would comprise seven papers instead of six papers as at present and nine papers at the professional programme level.

The elective papers would be – banking law and practice; capital, commodities and money market; insurance law and practice; intellectual property rights-law and practice; and international business – laws and practice. (The Hindu)