THE recent amendments to the Companies Act were seven years in the making. Why did it take so long?

One reason is that this was the most comprehensive set of changes - more than 200 amendments in all - since the Act was first passed in 1967.

When the Steering Committee for the Review of the Companies Act was appointed in end-2007, its goal was to conduct a thorough reform and update of the Act to reflect modern socio-economic conditions. The process was extensive and rigorous. For example, there were five Working Groups under the Steering Committee - I served on the one for Director's Duties. Apart from wide-ranging research, comparing our laws with other jurisdictions, extensive internal debates, and many focus groups, there were no less than nine public consultations at various stages.