[Bharat Harne is a IV year student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] On 3 December 2022, the Department of Financial Services invited comments on a host of proposed amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, of 1999. One of the proposals is to add a definition of ‘captive insurer’ by adding section 2 (4B) to the...
Challenging Bias in Indian Arbitration: An Illusory Remedy?
[Umang Bhat Nair is a 5th year student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] The Delhi High Court’s decision in Union of India v. Reliance Industries Ltd. (9 December 2022) added to an already long list of cases (for e.g., see here, here and here) holding that section 14 of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act [“A&C Act”] cannot be resorted to for challenging an arbitrator’s ruling on...
Call for Posts: Corporate Law Board of All India Legal Forum
[Announcement on behalf of the Corporate Law Board of the All India Legal Forum] The Corporate Law Board is an autonomous board of the All India Legal Forum. It is an initiative to engage a discussion around corporate law and policy in India and across the globe. The Board adopts a cross-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary approach in analysing the various corporate law issues, regulatory...
IFSCA Report on the Design of Variable Capital Companies
The choice of business form available in any jurisdiction is critical to the establishment of a vibrant fund industry. While several markets have historically relied on organisational structures such as the limited partnership, the age-old private trust formulation has constituted the mainstay of the fund industry in India. Most fund structures (including mutual funds and alternative investment...
What the ODI-OPI Holds for Indian Entities
[Hrithik Merchant is a 4th year law student pursuing BA LLB (Hons.) from National Law School of India University, Bangalore] The Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) reported that between April 2000 and August 2022 there was a financial commitment (“FC”) of overseas investment issued to the tune of USD 614 billion. Overseas investment has been accretive with Indian ventures attempting to access global...
Call for Papers: Journal on Governance
[Announcement on behalf of Journal on Governance] National Law University, Jodhpur is an institution of national prominence established under the National Law University, Jodhpur Act, 1999 by Rajasthan State Legislation. The University is established for the advancement of learning, teaching, research and diffusion of knowledge in the field of law. About the Journal The Centre for Corporate...
Digital Personal Data Protection Bill vis-à-vis GDPR
[Raj Shekhar and Aman Yuvraj Choudhary are 4th year and 3rd year law students pursuing BA LLB (Hons.) from National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi] On 18 November 2022 the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 (DPDP Bill), which seeks to replace the earlier Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP...
SEBI Proposals to Revamp the Continuing Disclosure Regime
A robust continuing disclosure regime is a sine qua non for maintaining efficient capital markets. Over the years, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has developed and enhanced a continuing disclosure regime for Indian listed companies, which is now encapsulated in regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (the ‘LODR Regulations’)...
SAT on the Non-Liability of a Company Secretary for Incorrect Disclosures
On 1 November 2022, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in V. Shankar v. Securities and Exchange Board of India exonerated the company secretary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL) from liability for certain misstatements and incorrect disclosures made by the company. Background and Decision The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had conducted investigation for certain...
Enforcement of Security Interest Against Borrower is Non-Arbitrable
[Suradhish Vats is an Associate at OliveLaw] In the recent case of Bell Finvest India Limited v. AU Small Finance Bank Limited, the Delhi High Court had the opportunity to resolve and clarify the position concerning section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (‘A&C Act’) and section 11 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security...
Macro-Stress Testing for Climate Risks and Green Finance Regulation
[Manal Shah is a policy researcher in the field of Indian financial regulation] A recent study has ranked India as seventh most affected country by extreme weather events such as floods, storms and heatwaves. Another study conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) indicates that 75% districts and half of India’s population are vulnerable to extreme climate events. In such a...
Force Majeure and Contingent Contracts: A Link that Wasn’t
[Shiv Swaminathan is Professor and Director, Centre for Legal Theory at Jindal Global Law School] There are two propositions that are a part of the received wisdom on the law relating to “frustration” of contracts in India. That section 56 of the Indian Contract Act contains the complete law relating to “frustration”—inclusive of “impossibility”...
Invoking India’s Money Laundering Regime for Environmental Crimes: Impact on Businesses
[Rajat Jariwal is a partner and Saniya Mirani is an associate at Trilegal] The recent verdicts of the National Green Tribunal (“NGT”), a special tribunal in India dealing only with environmental issues, have brought to fore the money laundering aspect of environmental crimes. India’s principal anti-money laundering statute, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (“PMLA”) was amended in 2013...
Data-Protection in the International Arbitration Regime
[Rishav Ray is a 4th year B.A. LL.B. (Hons) student at the School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore] One of the fundamental underlying principles of arbitration is ‘confidentiality’. Confidentiality and privacy act as counterparts in protecting the essence of arbitration. While confidentiality refers to the non-disclosure of materials placed during proceedings and the award...
‘Beneficial Owner’ is not a ‘Related Party’ under the IBC
[Tejas A. Jha is an Advocate, practicing in New Delhi] Recently, a major cause of concern has been highlighted by legal experts in regard to financial creditors seeking to invoke pledged shares in the corporate debtor. The concern is that when the said pledged shares are invoked, the financial creditor’s seat in the committee of creditors of the corporate debtor (“CoC”) may be put to challenge on...
The Unavailability of Writ Jurisdiction for Interference with One-Time Settlements
The Supreme Court in State Bank of India v. Arvindra Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (4 November 2022) was concerned with the question whether a High Court, in exercise of its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, can intervene in the terms of a one-time settlement (OTS) entered into between a defaulting borrower and a lending bank, for instance by extending the time period for payment...
Call for Papers: Centre for Corporate Research Law Journal
[Announcement on behalf of the Centre for Corporate Law Studies, ILNU] The Centre for Corporate Law Studies, Institute of Law, Nirma University (ILNU) invites submissions for its upcoming Issue of Volume 6 for Centre for Corporate Research Law Journal CRLJ ISSN 2348-**** and e-ISSN applied. About Centre for Corporate Law Studies, ILNU The Centre for Corporate Law Studies is an initiative of the...
How Securities Laws are Enforced in India: Some Facts from a New Data-set of SEBI Orders
As the regulator of one of the world’s largest stock markets by market capitalization, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has several enforcement tools at its disposal. These include imposing monetary penalties, cancelling licences of regulated intermediaries and pursuing criminal proceedings against violators of the laws, regulations and rules administered by SEBI. Moreover, the...
GNLU Advanced Certificate Programme in Capital Markets & Securities Laws
[Announcement on behalf of the GNLU Centre for Business and Public Policy] Established in 2003 with an aim to become a Research-based Teaching university, Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), has always taken proactive initiatives and outlook to provide valuable and mutually beneficial services to the institution of governance, judiciary, economy and civil society, especially weaker sections...
India’s Changing Landscape of ESG Disclosures
[Aanchal Kabra is a 5th year B.A. LLB (Hons.) student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] Sustainable finance has been gaining considerable prominence in corporate India. This conception of finance refers to finance which integrates environmental, social, and governance (‘ESG’) criteria into business and investment decisions, in an effort to increase benefits to...
Double Materiality in Indian ESG Disclosures
[Aanchal Kabra is a 5th year B.A. LLB (Hons.) student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] The concept of ‘materiality’ in financial disclosures was first introduced in the United States Securities Act of 1993. Thereafter, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) has maintained a consistent understanding of what information constitutes...
Delineating Relevant Market for Multisided Platforms: Transaction vs Non-Transaction Platforms
[Harshit Upadhyay and Sanigdh Budhia are third-year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] The underlying idea of a majority of platforms in the digital market has been to connect two or more completely different sets of users with differing motivations together, where the platform only acts as an intermediary between them. For instance, Ola and Uber connect...
Call for Submissions: NLS Business Law Review
[Announcement on behalf of the NLS Business Law Review] The Editorial Board of the NLS Business Law Review (NLSBLR) for 2022-23 is inviting original and unpublished submissions for the upcoming print Volume 9(1) of the Journal. About NLSBLR The NLSBLR is a student-run journal at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, India’s premier law school. Our goal is to recognise...
Secondment Taxation and the Northern Operating Systems Case
[Sumanth Sudharshan is a fourth-year B.B.A.,LL.B. student at Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat] Secondments are employment arrangements where an organization sends its employees to another organization to work for them. With more businesses operating globally, secondments allow companies to hire from associated entities for specialized skills or specific technical requirements. Secondments are...
Supreme Court Invokes Article 142 to Permit Withdrawal of CIRP
[Raghav Bhatia is an Advocate, currently practising at the Supreme Court of India & the Delhi High Court. He can be contacted at [email protected]] Recently, the Supreme Court of India (“Supreme Court”) in Amit Katyal v. Meera Ahuja permitted the parties to settle the matter and withdraw the CIRP proceedings by invoking article 142 of the Constitution of India (“Constitution”). The...
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