Given the robust nature of the class action mechanism in the U.S., it is hardly surprising that plaintiffs rush to initiate legal actions before the U.S. courts even in relation to foreign companies that have issued securities listed on non-U.S. stock exchanges. U.S. courts have been left to combat with what are known as “foreign-cubed” or “f-cubed” class action law suits, defined broadly as law...
The Social Cost of Corporations
Recent events, both in India and elsewhere, have thrown the spotlight on the roles and responsibilities of companies in society. In an interesting article “The Conscience of Capitalism” in Forbes India, Arun Maira discusses (in a non-technical fashion) the difficulties in pinning responsibility for wrongdoing by a company. Pertinently, he notes that while the “limited liability corporation is an...
Court of Appeal on the ‘True and Fair view’
In an earlier post, Shantanu had discussed the judgment of the England & Wales High Court in Macquarie Internationale Investments Ltd. v. Glencore UK Ltd. The decision of the High Court has been upheld on appeal by the Court of Appeal in a judgment available here. The Court of Appeal observes (paragraphs 51, 52 and 54) in relation to the ‘true and fair view’: On this issue a...
ULIPs regularised, Insurance companies given absolution
As reported in the press, the President has finally issued an Ordinance dated 18th June 2010, coming into effect immediately from that date, for, what I would call, “regularising” ULIPs. I use that word because not only it is declared that ULIPs (as very widely defined) issued by an insurer are life insurance business but also that they were always so for all practical purposes in this context...
Webinar on ‘Revision of the ICC Arbitration Rules’
(The following post comes to us from Rohan Bagai, who has previously contributed posts on this Blog here and here) The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration Secretary General, Mr. Jason Fry and Ms. Francesca Mazza, Counsel and Secretary to the ICC Commission on Arbitration are set to impart their knowledge and share their experience in a one-hour, interactive webinar (web...
The “right” of retention
It is generally accepted that a defendant in an action for damages cannot exercise the right of “set-off” on the basis of a mere “claim”, which has not crystallised. For example, while the law permits a defendant to set off debts owed to him by the plaintiff against a successful claim in court, he cannot normally resist the plaintiff’s case on the basis that litigation is pending in other courts...
Bhopal Gas Disaster Case
The Law and Other Things Blog links to Frontline’s extensive coverage of the judgment rendered last week by the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bhopal. It also provides a detailed account of the twists and turns encountered by various parties to the litigation for the last 25 years.
Bits of Interest
1. Mutual Funds and Unit Premium The Law-In-Perspective Blog uses the analogy of Ponzi schemes to explain a March 2010 circular of SEBI that prohibits mutual funds from using the unit premium reserve to pay dividends. If one would prefer to avoid the negative connotation associated with a Ponzi scheme, the post also looks at another parallel, being the restrictions under the Companies Act, 1956...
Conference on Goods and Services Tax
The School of Law, Christ University, in collaboration with Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan, Bangalore, are organizing a conference on the GST on 26 June 2010. Mr. Gautam Chawla of Christ University sends the following invitation, which might be of interest to readers: The replacement of the state taxes by the Value Added Tax in 2005 marked a significant step forward in the reform of domestic...
Trends in Private Equity Investment Structures
1. A report in the Mint demonstrates the popularity of convertible instruments over plain-vanilla equity when it comes to investments by private equity firms. 2. A post on New York Times’ Deal Professor Blog discusses trends in contractual structures for private equity investments from a broader perspective in the wake of the financial crisis. Most of those structures, however, are in the context...
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