[The following announcement comes from the Centre for Governance, National Law University, Jodhpur] Ever since its inception, the Journal on Governance has highlighted and debated upon the changing face of Corporate Governance in India while keeping pace with the world. The journal aims to serve as a platform for analyzing the evolution of the governance scenario in our country. In keeping with...
Scheme of Arrangement & Tax Authorities: The Vodafone Essar Case
Lately, the income tax authorities have been actively objecting to schemes of arrangement initiated under sections 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956 on the ground that the schemes are intended to avoid applicable taxes. Such objections are usually raised when the scheme is presented for sanction of the High Court. This scenario has been played out last week in a decision of the Gujarat High...
Supreme Court Judgment in the Sahara Case
The Supreme Court’s judgment in the Sahara case that was rendered yesterday is available here. The court found that the two companies in the Sahara group raised monies in violation of the corporate and securities laws applicable in India, and ordered refund of subscription monies along with interest. While the two judges have delivered separate judgments, the findings of non-compliance seem...
Relaxations on IDR Redemption
Last year, SEBI issued a circular that imposed some curbs on redemption by holders of Indian depository receipts (IDRs). Under that circular, redemption was permitted only if the IDRs are infrequently traded on the stock exchanges in India. This was a method of limiting exit options to investor exclusively to the Indian markets, except where they are illiquid (in which case conversion into...
Committee for Reforming the Regulatory Environment for Doing Business in India
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has established a 20-member committee to make recommendations to improve the regulatory environment for conducting business in India. Some of the background to this effort is contained in the MCA’s office memorandum: 1. The report of The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, entitled “Doing Business 2012: Doing business in a very Transparent...
Prohibition on Acquisition of Shares by Employee Trusts
One of the decisions taken at SEBI’s board meeting escaped attention until some recent discussion in the financial press (here and here). The relevant paragraph in SEBI’s press release is as follows: Listed entities shall frame employee benefit schemes only in accordance with SEBI (ESOS and ESPS) Guidelines, 1999. Entities whose schemes are not in conformity with the same would be given...
Liberalisation of FDI from Pakistan
Hitherto, a person resident in Pakistan or an entity incorporated in that country was not allowed to purchase shares or convertible debentures in an Indian company. This was by virtue of Regulation 5 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000. By way of a circular dated August 22, 2012, the Reserve Bank fo India (RBI)...
Business Responsibility Reporting
The debate continues over the nature of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements that should be imposed on Indian companies through the Companies Bill, 2011, i.e. whether voluntary or mandatory. Although the Government had proposed a hybrid approach, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance appears to be keen on retaining the mandatory approach, as we had previously discussed...
SEBI’s Capital Market Reforms
In what is clearly the most extensive set of capital market reforms in recent years, SEBI announced a series of measures following its board meeting last week. These are intended to boost the capital markets in India (both primary and secondary), and also to streamline various process. The principal recommendations have been divided into the following categories (in the words used in SEBI’s board...
NUJS Law Review: Call for Papers
[The following announcement is being posted on behalf of NUJS Law Review] The Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 recently passed by both houses of parliament promises to thoroughly revise the laws currently governing the Indian Copyright regime. This legislative moment provides an appropriate opportunity for academic reflection on the proposed changes, their probable impact and a holistic appraisal of...
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