(In the following post, Rohan Bagai analyzes the regulations relating to ‘sweat equity’ under Indian company law in the light of recent events surrounding the Indian Premier League. Rohan is a corporate lawyer at one of the leading law firms in India. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from New York University School of Law (NYU), New York with a specialization in corporate laws) The recent...
Bombay HC on the Binding Nature of AAR Ruling
(The following post has been contributed by Ravichandra S. Hegde of J. Sagar Associates) The Bombay High Court on April 29, 2010, while allowing a Writ Petition against the Income Tax Department has ruled on the binding nature of the decision rendered by the Authority for Advance Rulings (“AAR”). The Court has clarified that the decision given by the AAR would be binding on the applicant, the...
Nasscom on Corporate Governance
In early 2009, immediately following the accounting fraud at Satyam, several committees and task forces were constituted to review corporate governance norms and practices in India. Some of them issued their recommendations late last year. These include a report by a task force constituted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and another by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India...
ECB Process for Infrastructure Finance Eased
The Reserve Bank of India has issued a circular bringing external commercial borrowings (ECBs) by designated Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) within the automatic route subject to certain limits. The relevant portion of the circular is extracted below: On a review of the policy, it has been decided to modify the extant ECB policy in respect of the Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs) i...
Nomination vs. Succession on Shares
In his column in the Business Standard, guest contributor Somasekhar Sundaresan analyzes a recent judgment of the Bombay High Court that establishes the superiority of the nomination process over succession (whether testamentary or otherwise) in respect of shares of a company. He observes: The law on nomination of shares held in companies has taken a new meaning with perhaps the first...
Changes to Minimum Pricing Norms for Transfers of Indian Securities
(In his previous post, Tanmay Amar examined the new base pricing norms for issue of securities by Indian companies to non-resident investors. He now follows it up with an analysis of the new RBI circular, which is hot off the press, that amends pricing norms for transfers of securities between a resident investor and a non-resident investor) Introduction This post discusses the revised guidelines...
FDI in Trusts
(In the following post, Abhishek Tripathi, an independent legal practitioner, and Mani Gupta, an Associate at Luthra & Luthra examine some complexities in the regulations pertaining to FDI in trusts) The recently notified Consolidated FDI Policy of the Government of India (“FDI Policy”), in para 3.3.3, prescribes that ‘FDI in Trusts other than VCF is not permitted.’ This is an insertion that...
Bits of Interest
1. Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies Drawing lessons from the role of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the recent financial crisis, SEBI has imposed additional transparency and disclosure norms for the Indian CRAs. SEBI’s circular issued on May 3, 2010 covers issues such as maintenance of records of the rating process, dealing with conflicts of...
Core Investment Companies – Draft RBI Guidelines
(The following post has been contributed by Vijay Kumar, a lawyer and a company secretary by qualification, who is practising as an Advocate in the Chennai High Court with the law firm of Iyer and Thomas) Non – Banking Finance Companies have been classified as a. Asset Finance Company b. Investment Company c. Loan Company The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is now proposing to introduce a third...
Changes to Minimum Pricing Norms for FDI in Unlisted Companies
(The following post is from Tanmay Amar, senior associate at Luthra & Luthra. Tanmay discusses a significant change to the minimum pricing norms for issue of shares by Indian companies to foreign investors. This change is bound to affect the manner in which valuations are to be arrived at, especially for investments by financial investors such as private equity funds. It is not clear as to...
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