Rs 27 Lakh: India’s Corporate Ministry Fines Satya Nadella, LinkedIn, Microsoft And Others

For breaching the Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) regulations under the Companies Act, 2013, India’s Corporate Affairs Ministry has levied fines totaling Rs 27 lakh on LinkedIn India, its parent company Microsoft. The order issued by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Haryana has also named several key executives, including CEO Satya Nadella and Ryan Roslansky, head of LinkedIn Corporation.

The penalties have been outlined in a comprehensive 63-page order issued by the ROC, an office under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs responsible for administering the Companies Act, 2013. Each state and union territory in India has an RoC office that oversees the registration and regulation of companies within its jurisdiction.

The other Microsoft and LinkedIn officials who have been fined include Keith Ranger Dolliver, Benjamin Owen Orndorff, Michelle Katty Leung, Lisa Emiko Sato, Ashutosh Gupta, Mark Leonard Nadres Legaspi, and Henry Chining Fong.

In India, a Significant Beneficial Owner (SBO) refers to an individual who holds a significant ownership stake or exerts significant influence or control over a company. The concept of SBO is defined under the Companies Act, 2013, and the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Rules, 2018. The objective of identifying SBOs is to increase transparency and prevent the misuse of corporate structures for activities like money laundering and tax evasion.