The Hindu Business Line has published an interesting news story in its edition dated August 24, 2008 about delays in clearing open offers made under the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 (“Takeover Regulations”). Chronic delays in clearance of open offers are leading to M&A activity in India in the listed space being rendered unpredictable. Worse...
Preposterous policy view from SEBI on QIPs and Public Shareholding
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued an informal guidance relating to the Listing Agreement and the SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines (“DIP Guidelines“) that defies all logic and reason. Clause 13.A.1.1(b) of the DIP Guidelines, which governs private placements to qualified institutional buyers, provides that a listed company ought to be in...
Pay Commission Recommendation for Regulatory Bodies Laudable
The Sixth Pay Commission Report has hogged headlines. An interesting and important recommendation that will help the administration of corporate law is the recommendation on payscales for full-time members of regulatory bodies set up under Acts of the Parliament of India. The Commission has recommended that Chairmen of bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Central...
Libido can’t dilute Spitzer’s contribution to clean markets
Some sections of Wall Street are in celebration mode. Others are deeply disappointed. Eliot Spitzer, governor of New York, once the fire-spitting crusader attorney general of the State of New York, who had cleaned up the capital market with his incisive prosecution of questionable practices on Wall Street, has owned up to having availed of the services of a high-premium prostitution ring. Spitzer...
Immediate agenda for reform before SEBI
When a new chairman takes charge at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) the media tends to be full of what the new chairman ought to be doing. Here are some action items that SEBI ought to address as a matter of priority:- a) The SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1996 (“FII Regulations”), which govern foreign institutional investors (“FIIs”) await a comprehensive...
Industry can play an important role in reservation policyLast weekend, as part of a panel discussion at the Annual Day of the Pune Chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry, I was pleasantly surprised to hear about CII Pune having run finishing school sessions in collaboration with a local educational institute for members of the “scheduled castes” and “scheduled tribes”. The “reservation...
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