ArchiveAugust 2011

RBI’s Draft Guidelines for Private Sector Banks

Following the Finance Minister’s announcement in his budget speech for 2010-11 and a discussion paper published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in August 2010, the RBI has now released draft guidelines for licensing new banks in the private sector. The draft guidelines lay down the conditions on which corporate groups will be permitted to set up banks in India. While the RBI seems keen to tap...

Diaspora Bonds

The Economist has a piece that discusses the advantages of diaspora bonds to poor countries. It notes: The idea is simple. Poor-country governments can issue bonds and market them to emigrants in rich countries. There are several advantages to milking members of a diaspora. They are often patriotic: they like the idea that their savings will pay for bridges and clinics at home. They are patient...

Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

A recent study by Melsa Ararat and George Dallas under the aegis of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) highlights some of the special issues affecting corporate governance in emerging markets. In their paper Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets: Why It Matters to Investors—and What They Can Do About It, the authors comment on the scholarly research in corporate governance in emerging...

CCI Approves Acquisition of UTV by Walt Disney

(The following post has been contributed by Piyush Prasad, who is an alumnus (B.Sc. LL.B.) of the National Law University, Jodhpur) The Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) on August 25, 2011 approved the proposed combination of Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Limited (“the “Acquirer”) and UTV Software Communications Limited (“the “Acquired Enterprise”) under section 31 (1) of the...

Hybrid Companies and Restrictions on Transferability

We have previously discussed at length the law on the scope of s. 111A(2) of the Companies Act, 1956 [“CA 1956”]. In its recent judgment in Jer Rutton Kavasmanek v Gharda Chemicals, the Bombay High Court has considered this issue, as well as another controversial area in Indian company law – whether “public” and “private” are exhaustive of the types of companies contemplated by the CA 1956. The...

Fiduciary Duties and the Nature of an LLP

While the position of law in relation to the inter-se relationship between partners of a firm is fairly well-settled, there is no great clarity on similar issues arising in the context of LLPs. It is clear that the “double agency” rule of partnerships does not apply to LLPs: but, if LLPs are seen as a hybrid form of a partnership and a company, does the law impose any fiduciary duties on members...

Retailers Assoc. v. Union: Bombay High Court on Service Tax

In a previous post, I had briefly mentioned the judgment of a Division Bench (D.Y. Chandrachud and  A.V.Mohta, JJ.) the Bombay High Court, where the constitutional validity of service tax on renting of immovable property was upheld. The judgment (Retailers Association v. Union of India) is available on the Bombay High Court website (linked here). A perusal of the judgment shows that three...

Enforceability of Put and Call Options in India

I have posted a working paper tentatively titled Investment Agreements in India: Is There an ‘Option’?, the abstract of which is as follows: Put and call options are ubiquitous in modern investment agreements, such as those involving joint ventures as well as private equity and venture capital investments. The enforceability of put and call options in Indian companies has been the...

Corporate Philanthropy: Strategies & Incentives

The Harvard Corporate Governance Forum has an interesting and detailed post on corporate philanthropy that examines the various incentives that operate in this space. The post first seeks to identify the concept of corporate philanthropy: This report focuses on corporate philanthropy, which includes direct cash giving, foundation grants, stock donations, employee time, product donations, and...

Trade, Law & Development: Call for Submissions

The Editors of Trade, Law & Development (TL&D), a bi-annual, student-run, academic journal published by National Law University, Jodhpur, India, invite submission of unpublished, original works for publication in the forthcoming Special Issue of TL&D (vol.4, no.1 (2012)). The theme for the Special Issue is: Dispute Settlement at the World Trade Organization. Manuscripts received by...

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