'Company secretary'-- an emerging and rewarding profession

Corporate governance is a trending topic nowadays. Chartered secretaries are working with the establishment of good governance in an organisation. For this reason, chartered secretaries are known today as an important and rewarding profession all over the world.

Corporate governance is required to run companies effectively and efficiently. It is the responsibility of the company secretary to ensure the corporate governance of the organisation. Institutional governance is absolutely essential for the development of capital markets of any country and to protect the interests of investors.

Bangladesh is progressing in trade and commerce. The need and demand of more efficient company secretaries in this sector is increasing day by day. The person employed in this profession needs to have knowledge on different types of commercial laws, accounting and finance, HR and admin and at the same time be tactical in matters related to compliance, accounting and business administration.

Like other countries of the world, the position of company secretary and corporate manager is very important in various companies of our country. The lack of suitable candidates for these positions hinders the establishment of good governance. However, the Affiliated Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB), established by the Chartered Secretaries Act, 2010 and administered by the Ministry of Commerce of the government of Bangladesh, is working towards the development of the profession and the establishment of corporate good governance.

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) has been working for more than a decade now in terms of technical education and qualification. Today, the chartered secretary is a well-known and accepted professional qualification in corporate sector. At present, this professional course is equally important for both job seekers and job holders.

The institute launched the Chartered Secretary Professional Course for business graduates and also for non-business graduates (who would need to first enrol in the foundation level initially). They are offering admission twice a year, December and June. The course, divided into Executive and Professional levels, has five semesters (six months each) and will cover topics related to HRM and Industrial Relations, General and Commercial Laws, Corporate Accounting, Corporate Communication and Report Writing, Direct and Indirect Tax Laws, Economic Laws and WTO, Company Law and Practice, Company Secretarial Practice, Information Technology and Management Accounting, Banking, NBFI and Insurance Laws and Practice, Advanced Company Law and Practice, Corporate Financial Management, Corporate Governance, Corporate Administration and Corporate Tax, Corporate Secretaryship, Strategic and Operations Management, etc. Following completion of the five semesters, an internship for three months is mandatory to become a qualified chartered secretary.

Corporate professionals, directors of multinational companies, senior company secretaries, senior managers, senior advocates, experienced teachers from different universities, etc. have been conducting classes and ensuring to deliver knowledge to the participants.

The writer is studying undergrad at Department of Management at University of Dhaka. He can be reached at [email protected]