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CA Final Paper 4 study materials
CA Final Paper 4 study resources

CA Final Paper 4: Corporate and Economic Laws: Integrated Application

CA Final Paper 4 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Corporate and Economic Laws: Integrated Application

Paper 4 tests whether you can move between the Companies Act, 2013 and the economic statutes-IBC, FEMA, the Competition Act, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, and the SEBI/SCRA/Depositories framework-and apply the correct forum, threshold and consequence. Questions are usually transactional: a default, a related-party deal, a foreign remittance, or an anti-competitive arrangement.

Core rules

  • Companies Act, 2013: check board/shareholder approval, sections 185 and 186 for loans/investments, and section 188 for related-party transactions. The section 188 exemption requires the transaction to be in the ordinary course of business and at arm’s length-both conditions.
  • IBC: a financial creditor files under section 7; an operational creditor must first issue a section 8 demand notice giving 10 days, then may file under section 9. The default threshold is ₹1 crore. Admission triggers the section 14 moratorium, and CIRP is subject to the 330-day outer limit including extensions.
  • FEMA: current-account transactions are generally convertible, while capital-account transactions are regulated by RBI rules; contraventions may be compounded.
  • Competition Act: identify appreciable adverse effect on competition (AAEC) and the CCI’s combination jurisdiction.
  • Arbitration: section 9 interim relief, section 11 appointment, and section 34 setting aside on limited grounds-not a full merits appeal.

Worked example

An operational creditor is owed ₹1.5 crore for supplied goods. It must first issue a section 8 demand notice giving 10 days; if the debt remains unpaid or no dispute is shown, it may file under section 9. A financial creditor with a ₹1.5 crore term-loan default can file under section 7 directly. If admitted, the section 14 moratorium bars suits and asset transfers, and the CIRP must be completed within the 330-day outer limit including extensions.

Traps that cost marks

  • Treating financial and operational creditors as interchangeable.
  • Missing that section 188 exemption needs both ordinary course and arm’s length.
  • Confusing FEMA current-account and capital-account treatment.
  • Using section 34 arbitration as an appeal on merits.
  • Ignoring the IBC default threshold and the demand-notice sequence.