[The following post, the first in a series, is contributed by Rahul Sibal, a third year student of NALSAR Hyderabad. He analyzes possible liabilities that may arise with respect to compensation agreements from different perspectives. He can be contacted at [email protected]. In the following post, he attempts to ascertain the liability of directors, who have entered into compensation...
Calls for Socially Responsible Investing
The concept of socially responsible investing (SRI) suggests that investors would invest in companies that are acting in socially and environmentally responsible ways, and that such investors would exit from investments in businesses that do not comport with environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Such investors maintain a balance between financial sustainability and social impact...
NCLT Ruling under Section 8 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
[Guest post by Shayonee Dasgupta, who is a project finance lawyer with a leading law firm in India] As the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is in the process of being implemented, the provisions relating to the initiation of insolvency resolution process by an operational creditor were recently examined by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by way of an order...
Stewardship Code for Insurance Companies
Historically, the passivity of institutional investors in India has led to less than significant monitoring of managements and controlling shareholders of companies. However, as I had noted in an earlier paper, the Indian markets began witnessing greater levels of shareholder activism in more recent years. Among the regulatory efforts that have engendered activism, one relates to a 2010 circular...
Delhi High Court on Put Options and Guarantees under FEMA
The issue of whether put options, exits at assured returns and guarantee arrangements between Indian and foreign parties are enforceable under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) has received much regulatory and judicial attention lately. The dispute between Tata Sons and NTT Docomo heard by the Delhi High Court was being watched very closely until the case was...
Supreme Court on Force Majeure Clauses in Power Purchase Agreements
[Other posts related to this topic are available here and here.] In 2013, we had discussed an order of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in a matter involving Adani Power. The brief facts of the case, as discussed therein, are as follows: Adani Power had entered into separate PPAs with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited and two Haryana utilities under which Adani Power had agreed...
The Supreme Court on the SAT’s jurisdiction over SEBI Circulars
[Guest post by Amitabh Robin Singh, who is a corporate lawyer practising in Mumbai] Last month, the Supreme Court of India (“SC“) in the case of National Securities Depository Limited v. Securities and Exchange Board of India ruled that the administrative and legislative orders made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI“) are not assailable before the...
Has SEBI Altered Its Position on the Question of “Control”?
The issue of what amounts to “control” for purposes of the SEBI Takeover Regulations has been a vexed one, and has eluded any form of resolution for nearly 15 years. In a paper titled “The Nature of the Market for Corporate Control in India”, I have sought to summarize the present position (footnotes omitted): Under Indian takeover regulation, it is possible to trigger the [mandatory bid rule...
SAT on Holding Period for Inter Se Promoter Transfers
Mandatory takeover offer requirements are subject to certain exemptions. One such exemption is when there is an inter se transfer of shares among promoters of a company, so long as certain conditions are satisfied. One such condition, stipulated in regulation 10(1)(a)(ii) of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (the “Takeover Regulations”), is that the...
Incorrect Prefixes to Company Names
A longstanding misconception is finally sought to be rectified by the Bombay High Court in a Circular issued on 3 April 2017 (via LiveLaw), the extracts of which are as follows: IT IS OBSERVED by the Hon’ble Shri Justice G. S. Patel while hearing Chamber Summons No. 89 of 2017 in Execution Application (L) No. 198 of 2017 in Arbitration Case No. 1 of 2014, on 8th March, 2017, that for...
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