Company Secretary is one of the most honorable and desirable professions in the country. Company Secretaries are responsible for the governance of all the operations in an organization. Governance includes providing strategy for the company, making decisions on behalf of the company, complying with the legal matters of the company and ensuring ethical working in the company.
CS course is governed by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). ICSI is a national body formed with the main objective of encouraging, regulating, supervising, and developing the profession of Company Secretary in India.
ICSI takes up the revision of the syllabus of the CS course every five years, taking into consideration the developments taking place in all aspects of the country. Recently, ICSI authorized the New Syllabus for the Company Secretary Course after taking advice from the stakeholders on how to frame the syllabus. It will be applicable from the year 2023.
ICSI NEW SYLLABUS
Note: The following data is collected from the ICSI website.
The New Syllabus shall comprise of an Online Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test (CSEET) consisting of Four (4) parts, seven (7) Papers at Executive Programme and Seven (7) Papers at Professional Programme including Two Papers as elective papers. The nomenclature of CSEET, seven (7) Papers of the Executive Programme and Seven (7) Papers of Professional Programme including electives under the ICSI Syllabus (2022) are as under:
CSEET
The Syllabus of Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test (CSEET) comprises of the following four parts:
1. | Part 1 : Business Communication (50 Marks) |
| 2. | Part 2 : Legal Aptitude, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude (70 Marks) |
| 3. | Part 3 : Economic and Business Environment (50 Marks) |
| 4. | Part 4 : Current Affairs (30 Marks) |
EXECUTIVE
| GROUP 1 | GROUP 2 | ||
| 1. | Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws (100 Marks) | 5. | |
| 2. | Company Law & Practice Part I – Company Law – Principles and Concepts (60 Marks) Part II – Company Administration & Meetings (40 Marks) | 6. | |
| 3. | Setting Up of Business, Industrial & Labour Laws Part I – Setting Up of Business (60 Marks) Part II – Industrial & Labour Laws (40 Marks) | 7. | |
| 4. | Corporate Accounting and Financial Management Part I – Corporate Accounting (60 Marks) Part II – Financial Management (40 Marks) |
PROFESSIONAL
| GROUP 1 | |
| 1. | Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) – Principles & Practice Part I – Governance and Sustainability (65 Marks) Part II – Risk Management (20 Marks) Part III- Environment & Sustainability Reporting (15 Marks) |
| 2. | Drafting, Pleadings and Appearances Part I – Drafting and Conveyancing (70 Marks) Part II – Pleadings and Appearances (30 Marks) |
| 3. | Compliance Management, Audit & Due Diligence Part I – Compliance Management (40 Marks) Part II – Audit & Due Diligence (60 Marks) |
| 4. | Elective 1 (Select one Paper out of 4 Elective Papers) |
ELECTIVE PAPERS
(Select one paper each from Elective 1 and Elective 2 respectively)
| ELECTIVE 1 | ELECTIVE 2 | ||
| 4.1 | CSR & Social Governance Part I – Corporate Social Responsibility (50 Marks) Part II – Social Governance (50 Marks) | 7.1 | Arbitration, Mediation & Conciliation Part I – Arbitration & Conciliation (70 Marks) Part II – Mediation (30 Marks) |
| 4.2 | Internal and Forensic Audit Part I – Internal Audit (60 Marks) Part II – Forensic Audit (40 Marks) | 7.2 | Goods and Services Tax (GST) & Corporate Tax Planning Part I – Goods and Services Tax (GST) (70 Marks) Part II – Corporate Tax Planning (30 Marks) |
| 4.3 | Intellectual Property Rights – Law & Practice (100 Marks) | 7.3 | Labour Laws & Practice (100 Marks) |
| 4.4 | Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Cyber Security – Laws & Practice (100 Marks) | 7.4 | Banking & Insurance – Laws & Practice Part I – Banking Laws (50 Marks) Part II – Insurance Laws (50 Marks) |
| 7.5 | Insolvency and Bankruptcy – Law & Practice (100 Marks) |
APPLICABILITY OF THE NEW SYLLABUS 2022
| COURSE | APPLICABLE FROM |
| CSEET | JUNE 16, 2023 |
| EXECUTIVE | FEBRUARY 01, 2023 |
| PROFESSIONAL | AUGUST 01, 2023 |
OLD SYLLABUS VS NEW SYLLABUS
CSEET
- The writing and presentation skills exam has been removed from the new syllabus.
- Quantitative aptitude has been added in Part 2: Legal Aptitude and Logical Reasoning.
EXECUTIVE
- Paper 5: Corporate & Management Accounting and Paper 8: Financial & Strategic Management have been clubbed into one subject- Paper 4: Corporate Accounting & Financial Management.
- Only Paper 4 Corporate Accounting & Financial Management involve 20% case-based objective-type questions and 80% descriptive questions.
PROFESSIONAL
- Paper 2: Advanced Tax Laws and Paper 8: Multi-disciplinary Case studies have been removed.
- Instead of 1, 2 elective papers have been introduced.
- Instead of three groups in the old syllabus, there are now only two groups in the new syllabus.