ArchiveNovember 2012

Indemnity clauses and criminal proceedings

Earlier this week, the Court of Appeal decided another interesting case involving contractual interpretation – this time interpreting and determining the scope of an indemnity clause. The case was one of the many fall-outs of the ongoing News of the World (“NOTW”) saga, and involved a claim brought by Mr Coulson, former editor of NOTW, against his former employers. On the termination of Mr...

Settlement of Charges Between Indian Brokerages and the US SEC

Earlier this week, four Indian brokerage houses entered into settlements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for charges of carrying on brokerages services to institutional investors in the United States (US) without registration under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). The SEC’s press release and the orders pertaining to the four brokerages are available...

The crisis that SAT is heading towards

On November 1, 2012, this blog had a post on a writ petition relating to the absence of a Presiding Officer in the Securities Appellate Tribunal (“SAT”).   I wrote a piece in the Business Standard in my column on November 12, 2012 about how the SAT needs to be handled with care. Since then, some more facts have become apparent.  One of the remaining two members of the SAT will...

Deliberate Repudiatory Breach and Exemption Clauses – Part II

An earlier post discussed the High Court decision in NetTV, which held that there is a presumption against an exemption clause in a contract also applying to deliberate repudiatory breaches, unless the clause was clearly intended to apply to such breaches. However, in a subsequent decision in June last year, Flaux J severely criticised the line of reasoning adopted in NetTV, considering it...

Should Government Companies Be Exempt From the Takeover Regulations?

Today’s Business Standard carries a report indicating that SEBI is in the process of considering a general exemption to the Government from making a mandatory open offer under SEBI’s Takeover Regulations 2011. This comes in the wake of two specific exemptions granted by SEBI this year in the case of IDBI Bank and IFCI whereby the Government was given special dispensation from making an open offer...

Front running not a crime, if committed by non-intermediaries – SAT

As highlighted in an earlier post, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has held that front running, carried out by a non-intermediary, is not in violation of the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Markets) Regulations, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as “PFUTP Regulations”). The facts, as narrated in the SAT order, are simple enough. An employee...

Front-running is no crime, says SAT

The Securities Appellate Tribunal has given an interesting ruling that front running by an investor (who is not an intermediary) is not a violation of the SEBI FUTP Regulations 2003. It held this essentially on two grounds. Firstly, it held that the 2003 Regulations consider front running as a violation only if it is carried out by an intermediary but not if carried out by others. Secondly...

Deliberate Repudiatory Breach and Exemption Clauses – Part I

Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal from a decision of Flaux J in Shared Network Services v Nextiraone, on the basis that the case was a good vehicle to resolve an important question of law. Although there is no certainty as to whether this appeal will be heard, and if so, when, the question of law highlighted by the Court of Appeal is one of great significance for...

Australian Court on Rating Complex Financial Instruments

The Federal Court of Australia has delivered an important ruling that pertains to the liability of credit rating agencies. In Bathurst Regional Council v. Local Government Financial Services Pty Ltd, the court found that Standard & Poors (S&P) was liable to several local councils in Australia for a AAA rating provided in connection with their investment in complex financial instruments...

Conference on ‘The Copyright Amendments, 2012: A fair Balance?’

[The following is a conference announcement from the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Society] The MHRD IP Chairs at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) and the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) are jointly hosting a two-day Conference on ‘The Copyright Amendments, 2012: A fair Balance?’ at NUJS on November 27 and 28, 2012. The conference is...

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