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If you like leading a crowd rather than following one, a career as a company secretary could be just the thing, says Shubhobroto Ghosh

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A company secretary is an expert in corporate laws, security laws, capital market and corporate governance. He can also be a strategic manager responsible for all regulatory compliance of the company and the chief adviser to the board of directors.

“A career as a company secretary is not only prestigious and financially rewarding but also carries a high level of job satisfaction,” says N.K. Jain, secretary and chief executive officer of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). Now, with the introduction of a new syllabus for the exam, the prospects seem rosy for those intent on corporate governance.

A student who has passed Plus Two and wants to be a company secretary has to go through the foundation programme, executive programme and professional programme. A graduate student would have to do the executive and professional programmes. All candidates have a practical training period of 15 months.

Admission to the CS course is open throughout the year. Examinations are held twice a year, in June and December. Originally the entire course was divided into three sections, the foundation, intermediate, and final course. These have now been renamed the foundation, executive and professional programme.

The new syllabus has quite a few changes. The foundation programme now has four subjects, the executive programme has six and the professional programme has eight.

“The changes have been instituted keeping in mind the rapid pace of globalisation and the requirements of the modern corporate world,” says Shantanu Mukherjee, executive officer of the eastern India regional office of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. The trends in the current business environment, emerging regulatory regimes and developments at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) front have been the driving force behind the current changes to the company secretary course.

“The changes to the course were made without compromising on the quality and the number of papers has been rationalised at all levels of the course,” mentions Jain.

Mukherjee explains that subjects are reviewed and updated periodically and the subjects at each level have also been altered as part of the process.

Students also complete a mandatory 70-hour computer course with NIIT (National Institute of Information Technology) that gives them some very handy skills.

“The company secretary course offers a number of training programmes,” reveals Mukherjee. For example, there are academic development programmes that students have to attend after the executive programme. “The changes instituted will make it easier for students to pass the professional programme in the course too,” says Mukherjee.

N.K. Jain emphasises that corporate accountability is on everyone’s mind today. Businesses face significant pressures to comply with a steady stream of complex regulations. “This focussed attention on compliance expects the company secretaries to guide the business in adapting to the prevalent regimes,” he points out.

The prospects of becoming a company secretary in India are bright. According to the Companies Act, 1956, all companies having a paid up share capital of Rs 2 crore or more are required to appoint a full-time company secretary. With liberalisation on a canter, the number of such companies is rising fast thereby creating a demand for more company secretaries.

In a world that is dissolving boundaries and constantly blending, company secretary students have an important role to play in mergers and acquisitions. Mukherjee says that every year almost 40,000 students enrol for this course, 40 per cent of whom pass the exam. The ICSI conducts examinations at 62 centres across the country and one overseas centre in Dubai. It has also launched an online portal for e-learning.

“Under e-learning, students can have continuous access to studies and guidance from faculty online. In a nutshell, the new curriculum for the course has been designed with a global perspective to prepare new generation company secretaries to assume leadership roles in delivering value added professional services to corporates,” sums up Jain.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)