The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently brought about two sets of related reforms that introduce much greater flexibility to foreign investors in investing in Indian companies that gets rid of some of the rigidity that hitherto existed. In terms of investment instruments, the RBI has permitted investment in partly paid shares and warrants. Additionally, it has also relaxed the pricing...
Guest Post: Disclosure of Shareholding & Insider Trading Regulations
[The following post is contributed by Yogesh Chande, Associate Partner, Economic Laws Practice. Views are personal] In an order passed by the SEBI Adjudicating Officer against an employee (Noticee) of a listed company, it was held that the “Head of Human Resources” of a particular vertical of the company is also an “officer” within the meaning of the definition of section 2(30) of the Companies...
Guest Post – Company Deposits: New Rules Change The Game
[The following post is contributed by Abhishek Bansal and Stuti Bansal, Corporate Professionals, Advisors & Advocates. The authors can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected] respectively) This post discusses the concept of deposits as provided under Chapter V of the Companies Act, 2013 (hereinafter the Act of 2013) and the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014...
Guest Post: MCA Finalises Cost Audit Rules
[The following post is contributed by Nivedita Shankar of Vinod Kothari & Company. She can be reached at [email protected]] Putting all speculation to rest, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on June 30, 2014 finally came out with the final rules relating to cost audit and cost records. Although, the rules are yet to be gazetted, yet the finalized rules have surely given an...
Guest Post: MCA’s ‘Deemed’ Clarification on Foreign Subsidiary Status
[The following post builds upon two previous posts, here and here. In this, Esha Chakraborty and Shampita Das of Vinod Kothari & Co. raise some further concerns regarding the recent clarification issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The authors may be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected] respectively.] Continuing with the intent of infusing clarity to...
MCA Clarifies on Status of Private Subsidiary of a Foreign Company
Earlier this year, we had raised and discussed a vexed issue under the Companies Act, 2013 (the 2013 Act) regarding “the status of a private company in India that is the subsidiary of a foreign company (being a public company). The specific question relates to whether the Indian private company can continue with its status or whether that would become a public company by virtue of becoming a...
SEBI Order on Delisting
A few weeks ago, we discussed SEBI’s proposals to overhaul the delisting regime. Evident from that discussion were difficulties faced in the current delisting regime. Some of those difficulties have surfaced in an order issued by SEBI yesterday involving the delisting of AstraZeneca Pharma India Limited. SEBI’s order alleges a concerted action between the controlling shareholder of the target and...
Shareholder E-Voting Requirements Deferred
India is one of the forerunners in mandating e-voting by shareholders. It was first introduced by SEBI for top listed companies, and then codified in the Companies Act, 2013 (section 108). However, due to operational difficulties and delays, the MCA last week issued a clarification postponing the mandatory nature of the e-voting requirements. It has also clarified certain operational matters...
Proposed Relaxations to Private Companies
One of the difficult tasks for any companies’ legislation is that it must be flexible and dynamic to be in position to deal with varying types of companies. Such companies can range from the one-person company, a private limited company, a public unlisted company to finally a public listed company. Despite widely differing characteristics that operate in each of these companies, the legislative...
US Supreme Court Decision on Securities Fraud Actions
The US Supreme Court yesterday issued its opinion in a significant case that determines the state of the law on class actions for securities fraud. The background and the issue in question have been set out in the ruling as follows: Investors can recover damages in a private securities fraud action only if they prove that they relied on the defendant’s misrepresentation in deciding to buy or sell...
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