Centre constitutes Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India

The central government on Saturday announced the constitution of a four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the chairmanship of MS Sahoo, former chairman of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Finance minister Arun Jaitley (right) swears is MS Sahoo as the first chairman of IBBI

Sahoo assumed charge as chairman of IBBI on Saturday after finance and corporate affairs minister Arun Jaitley administered him the oath of office.

Sahoo will be chairman of IBBI for a period of five years.

Other members of the IBBI include additional secretary in the finance ministry Ajay Tyagi, joint secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs Amardeep Singh Bhatia, joint secretary in the department of legal affairs GS Yadav and legal advisor at Reserve Bank of India Unnikrishnan.

The IBBI will regulate the functioning of insolvency professionals, insolvency professional agencies and information utilities under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, as notified in May this year.

While the current strength of IBBI is four, going forward, the number is likely to increase to 10, official sources said, adding that three whole-time members and two other members will be appointed in the coming days.

Corporate affairs ministry, which is implementing the Bankruptcy Code, has already started the process for hiring, say sources.

Under the new law, notified in May, employees, creditors and shareholders would have powers to initiate winding up process at the first sign of financial stress such as serious default in repayment of bank loan.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had, in August, asked officials to ensure that the Code is implemented in a time-bound manner.