Category: Uncategorized
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SEC Issues Permanent Ban on Abusive Short Sales
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued a temporary ban on the practice of “naked” short sales. By way of a recent press release, SEC has now made the ban permanent. The Press Release defines a “naked” short sale as one where “the investor sells shares…
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SEBI clarifies on Insider Trading Regulations amendments of November 2008
SEBI had amended the Insider Trading Regulations 1992 vide a Notification dated November 19, 2008 which I had discussed it here and here. SEBI has now released a set of “Clarifications” on 24th July 2009 on certain issues arising out of the amendments made. I had opined on some of these issues in my earlier…
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The Efficacy of Conventional Corporate Governance Instruments
Each time there is a corporate governance scandal (whether in India or elsewhere), the response has been to use a set of instruments (implemented through regulation or best practices) to avoid a repetition of such occurrences. It appears that these instruments have not always been successful as they come with certain innate limitations, but they…
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The Tale of the Resigning Director
In the aftermath of events that occurred at Satyam and Nagarjuna Finance, there has been a mass exodus of independent non-executive directors from boards of Indian listed companies. More often that not, there is no apparent reason offered for resignation by such directors. As we had discussed in an earlier post, the SGX in Singapore…
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SEBI prohibits issue of shares with “superior” rights
SEBI has issued a circular dated July 21, 2009, to make amendments to prohibit issue of shares with superior voting rights by listed companies. This is pursuant to SEBI announcement discussed by Mr. Umakanth earlier in this blog here and that post makes an interesting analysis of the term “superior voting rights”, particularly in comparison…
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Venture Capital – Foreign and Domestic: Some Comparisons
Consistent with the expansion of the venture capital industry in India, the regulatory regime has been formulated with a view to foster such growth. While the domestic venture capital industry is governed by the SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996, the foreign venture capital industry (investing into Indian companies) is governed by the SEBI (Foreign…
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Greater Role for Judicial Intervention in Foreign Arbitration
The decision of the Supreme Court in Bhatia International and its implications are well known, and have been discussed on this blog on several occasions. In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court has further entrenched the decision. The decision, Citation Infowares Ltd. v. Equinox Corporation, (2009) 5 UJ 2066 (SC), raised the question as to…
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“Clarifications” by SEBI to the additional 5% creeping acquisition requirements
Readers may recollect that SEBI had amended the Takeover Regulations vide a notification dated October 30, 2008 and a 5% creeping acquisition was introduced for holding between 55-75% under certain conditions. This notification was discussed by me in this blog here. Certain concerns were raised as to the interpretation of the notifications. SEBI has apparently…
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A Dubious Interpretation of Dharmendra Textile
Three earlier posts have discussed the decision of the Supreme Court in Dharmendra Textile v. Union of India, and how two benches of the ITAT, in Pune and Bombay, have attempted to narrow down the scope of the decision. This reading down has been done in cases where the fact scenarios did not come strictly…
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Competition Law in Transition: Multiplicity of Regulators
In competition law, there seems to be a duopoly situation as far as the regulatory sphere is concerned. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is already in place with several provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 having been notified to take effect from May 20, 2009. Moreover, the CCI has also begun acting on cases…
