Independent Director? Check This Box First! - Government Introduces Independent Director's Databank

• Independent Directors are required to register themselves in the Data Bank.
• Existing independent directors have three months from December 1, 2019 for registration.
• A proficiency self-assessment test for independent directors has been introduced.

Pursuant to the notification of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs ("MCA") dated October 22, 2019 ¹>, an online data bank for the independent directors ("Data Bank") has been rolled out by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs ("IICA"). All individuals who are proposed to be appointed as an independent director ("ID") or who are already appointed as an ID on board of companies in India have to register themselves in the Data Bank and then appear for an online proficiency test. This is a new check the box requirement for being appointed as an independent director ("ID") on the board of company in India. The below write-up gives a glimpse of this new initiative of MCA towards enhancing good corporate