IndiaCorpLaw

Blog Posts

  • SEBI Informal Guidance: Scope of Prohibition

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Supreme Waskar, partner at Sterling Associates, Mumbai] Almondz Global Securities Limited (“AGSL”) is a stock broker and merchant banker registered with SEBI. On March 21, 2014 SEBI had prohibited AGSL from taking up any new assignment or involvement in any new issue of capital including…

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  • Are SEBI’s FAQs binding on parties/SEBI?

    [Posted by Jayant Thakur] 0 0 1 38 218 Jayant M. Thakur & Co., CAs 1 1 255 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria;} How far are FAQs on SEBI Regulations,…

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  • Financial Year Status of Foreign Owned and Controlled Companies

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Esha Chakraborty of Vinod Kothari & Co. She can be contacted at esha@vinodkothari.com] The financial year (F.Y.) 2014-15 seems overwhelming for India Inc. as it faces the daunting task of meeting regulatory time-lines on the implementation of several new provisions introduced under the Companies Act,…

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  • Update: Relaxation of FDI Norms for Construction Development Sector

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Bhushan Shah at Mansukhlal Hiralal & Company, Mumbai] The Union Cabinet on 29 October 2014 decided to amend the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in the construction sector, i.e. townships, housing and built-up infrastructure. The press release is available here. The key amendments are as…

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  • Unenforceable Agreements and Credit Rating Agencies

    [Posted by V. Niranjan] A striking feature of the credit market over the past decade or more is the growing importance of credit rating: its significance for an applicant in urgent need of credit for his business cannot be overstated. This has given rise to some difficult legal problems: an obvious one is the liability…

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  • Disclosure of “Encumbrances” on Shares

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Recently, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) had to deal with two separate situations pertaining to the disclosure of pledge or other encumbrance over shares. In an order discussed earlier today, the SAT found that the acquisition of shares by a public financial institution through the invocation of a pledge was required…

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  • Invocation of pledge by PFI requires disclosure under SEBI regulations

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Supreme Waskar, partner at Sterling Associates, Mumbai] The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has upheld the order of SEBI against SICOM Ltd. (“SICOM”) imposing penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs for non-disclosure of acquisition pursuant to the invocation of a pledge under regulations 29(1) and 29(2) of…

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  • Doing Business Report 2015: A Mixed Bag for India

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The World Bank has released its report titled “Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency”. It has also published a country report on India for the same year. At the overall level, India does not emerge in positive light, given that its ranking has fallen to 142 (out of a total of…

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  • CSR in Government Companies

    [Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has acquired tremendous prominence in India since the enactment of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 (the CSR Rules). They are applicable to large companies, whether or not they are listed on the stock exchange. Now, the…

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  • Revisiting penalty clauses in contract

    [Posted by Shantanu Naravane] Last year, the English Court of Appeal in Talal El Makdessi v Cavendish Square Holdings [2013] EWCA Civ 1539 considered the enforceability of penalty clauses under English contract law, and was one of the few decisions in recent times to have concluded that the clauses in question were penal and therefore…

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