Day before yesterday, SEBI has amended the DIP Guidelines to include the National Investment Fund in the definition of ‘Qualified Institutional Buyers’ (QIBs).The National Investment Fund was set up from the proceeds of disinvestment of public sector undertakings. It is intended to be used primarily for funding health and education projects. See this article in The Hindu for more details.By...
Enforcement of Corporate Governance Norms
A new paper “Corporate Governance, Enforcement, and Firm Value: Evidence from India” authored by Dhammika Dharmapala & Vikramaditya Khanna has been posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: “This paper analyzes the effects of corporate governance reforms and enforcement on stock market development and firm value, using a sequence of corporate governance reforms in India. Our results, taken...
Pitfalls in Emerging Market Investments
A recent unsuccessful bid by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Temasek to take a 24% stake in China Eastern Airlines is symptomatic of several pitfalls that exist in large investments in emerging markets. Knowledge@Wharton carries an interesting analysis of that case, a synopsis of which is as follows: “It was a perfect deal and it had approval from the top levels of the Chinese government. Singapore...
Trading in Futures – Financial Instruments of Mass Destruction?
The exposure of Indian corporates and banks to derivatives has been receiving a lot of attention lately. For example, see LiveMint (here and here), Financial Express and Economic Times. But, what are some of the key legal considerations that arise in the case of derivative transactions? To examine those, we have a guest contribution. Image: Wikimedia CommonsThe following post has been contributed...
Changes in FDI Policy
There were some significant changes to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy earlier this week. The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion issued as many as six press notes on March 12, 2008 (available here). The changes are in the following sectors: 1. Credit Information Companies;2. Commodity Exchanges;3. Industrial Parks;4. Civil Aviation Sector;5. Petroleum & Natural Gas...
India Business: A Few Updates
1. Indian Acquisitions in the United StatesOne of our regular readers, Mohit Gogia, who is a lawyer currently based in New York, brings to our attention a report titled “US-Bound Acquisitions by Indian Companies” that has been prepared by Virtus Global Partners. This report contains a snapshot of Indian acquisitions of US companies, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The gist of their...
Libido can’t dilute Spitzer’s contribution to clean markets
Some sections of Wall Street are in celebration mode. Others are deeply disappointed. Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York, once the fire-spitting crusader attorney general of the State of New York, who had cleaned up the capital market with his incisive prosecution of questionable practices on Wall Street, has owned up to having availed of the services of a high-premium prostitution ring. Spitzer...
Buyouts & Law Firms
Thus far, I could only imagine law firms being involved in private equity funding and buyouts as legal advisors on deals.
But, now it appears that we may begin to witness private equity funding and buyouts OF law firms. For details: Law.com and TimesOnline.
Hostile Takeovers & Embedded Defences
The Financial Times reported last week in the context of EADS (the maker of the Airbus aircraft) that “France and Germany are finalising changes to EADS’ corporate by-laws to prevent foreign investors building significant stakes in – or even taking over – Europe’s flagship aerospace and defence company.” The plan is to restrict any investor deemed predatory from owning more than 15% in the...
Immediate agenda for reform before SEBI
When a new chairman takes charge at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) the media tends to be full of what the new chairman ought to be doing. Here are some action items that SEBI ought to address as a matter of priority:- a) The SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1996 (“FII Regulations”), which govern foreign institutional investors (“FIIs”) await a comprehensive...
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