The department of company affairs is planning to exempt corporates from having to disclose the pay-packets of employees posted abroad in their annual reports.
It is also considering allowing firms with clean records to modify financial statements without seeking the department's permission.
Such companies will be exempt from making full disclosures on subsidiaries, like attaching balance sheets and income statements.
Senior officials with the department said the Company Law Advisory Committee, comprising experts like chartered accountant Yezdi Malegam and corporate lawyer Shardul Shroff, has been entrusted with the task of preparing the guidelines.
They added that the National Association of Software and Services Companies had approached the government seeking exemption from emoluments disclosure norms for firms employing professionals abroad, particularly foreign nationals.
Other nations have privacy laws, protecting firms from having to make such disclosures.
The officials said the department had received several such requests, and felt that distance should be maintained from the day-to-day working of companies. "At the same time, unscrupulous elements should not be allowed to misuse the provisions," an official pointed out.
In regard to cases of remuneration clearances where the department's approval was required, there should be norms on exemptions, the officials said. Certain companies do not require the government's permission to make exemptions on booking depreciation.
Section 211 (4) of the Companies Act, 1956, states that on receiving an application from a company, or on approval from its board, the department may allow a modification of the Act on matters stated in the balance sheet and the profit and loss account.
Moreover, under Section 212 (8) of the Act, the department has the power to exempt a holding company from disclosing accounts of a subsidiary in the balance sheet.
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