Blog Posts
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FDI Reforms in E-Commerce: What Do They Entail?
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] In a post on this Blog earlier this month, Satyajit Gupta and Saurabh Sharma elaborately discussed the background to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the e-commerce sector. Ambiguities in the policy have not only given rise to uncertainties to players in the sector, but have also resulted in multiple…
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SEBI’s Interim Order in the Sharepro Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Last week, SEBI issued an ex-parte ad-interim order in a case involving Sharepro Services (I) Private Limited, which is a registrar and transfer agent (RTA) for a number of companies. Based on certain complaints, SEBI began investigating into the affairs of Sharepro and found a number of irregularities. For example, dividends…
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Equity-Based Crowdfunding as an Early-Stage Financing Alternative: Critique of the Regulatory Proposals in India
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following guest post is contributed by Shwetha Chandrashekar, who is a Senior Associate in Bangalore, India at GameChanger Law Advisors. She can be contacted on shwetha@gamechangerlaw.com.] With over 4200 start-ups, India is the fastest growing start-up ecosystem worldwide. It has the third-largest number of start-ups in the technology sector following…
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Analysis of the options proposed by SEBI for ascertaining “control”
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following guest post is contributed by Amitabh Robin Singh, who is an Associate at DSK Legal. In this, he highlights the benefits and also offers a critique of SEBI’s recent proposals to define “control”] Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) released a discussion paper to lay down a…
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Choosing between a blurred line and a bright line: SEBI proposes an objective test for “control”
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Vinod Kothari of Vinod Kothari & Co. The subject matter of this post is current given that SEBI is in the process of engaging in a public consultation based on its proposals. We are likely to carry a series of posts on this issue so as to…
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SEBI’s Discretion (or Lack Thereof) in Imposing Penalty – A Twist in the Tale
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following guest post is contributed by Vaneesa Agrawal, Securities Lawyer and former Legal Officer, SEBI. She can be reached at vaneesa.agrawal@gmail.com. A previous post on this Blog relating to the subject matter can be found here.] Background There has been much furore in the corporate world due to the Supreme…
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Companies (Amendment) Bill 2016: An Analysis
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Vinod Kothari of Vinod Kothari & Co.] The Government placed a Bill to amend the Companies Act, 2013 (the “2013 Act”), passed less than 3 years ago, proposing nearly 100 amendments, purported to be for the ease of doing business. Most of the amendments proposed…
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Update: Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following post is contributed by Bhushan Shah and Labdhi Shah from Mansukhlal Hiralal & Company. The views expressed herein are personal] Parliament of India has passed the much awaited Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016 (Regulation) in the ongoing Budget Session. The Regulation has been enacted with the intention of…
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Brightline Test for Acquisition of Control
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] [The following guest post is contributed by Supreme Waskar, who is a corporate lawyer] In the backdrop of ambiguity and concerns in relation to acquisition of ‘control’ of a listed target company, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has initiated a consultation process by way of its discussion paper dated…
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Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016 Introduced in Parliament
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Last month, the Companies Law Committee (CLC) had submitted its report recommending certain reforms to the Companies Act, 2013. Suggestions were invited from the public through a brief consultation process. Based on these recommendations, the Government has now introduced the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Lok Sabha. The Statement of…