The Government has said that the reports appearing in a section of media indicate that a Section 25 Company, “Thought Arbitrage Research Institute” has published a study indicating inter alia occurrence of frauds in companies due to factors like inadequate internal control procedures, diversion of funds by promoters/ top management, failure of audit in detection of frauds, etc. These factors are in any case widely recognised causes of frauds in companies. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs, said that the Government have initiated a number of measures to prevent and deal with occurrence of frauds in the companies. Attention may, in particular, be invited to the following:

• Creation of “Fraud” as a substantive offence in the recently passed Companies Bill, 2013;

• Stricter norms of Corporate Governance and their implementation in the Companies Bill;

• Statutory status to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO);

• Amendments in securities laws through Securities Laws (Amendments) Ordinance amending the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act (SCRA) and the Depositories Act enabling SEBI to deal effectively to violations of laws by companies and individuals including those running Ponzi schemes;

• Increasing application of technology for early detection of frauds though data mining and Forensic Audit, etc.

Corporate fraud measures: new substantive offence of fraud plus strengthened governance and forensic detection tools. Creation of a distinct substantive offence of fraud, tighter corporate governance norms, statutory recognition and empowerment of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, and securities law amendments to enable regulatory action against companies and individuals, together with enhanced use of technology such as data mining and forensic audit for earlier detection and investigation of corporate fraud.