Blog Posts
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Fairness Opinions: Art or Science?
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] It has been said that valuation of a company is more of an art than a science. This has manifested again in the Bear Stearns transaction that is currently hogging limelight among legal circles. In this case, Lazard issued a fairness opinion when JP Morgan’s transaction with Bear Stearns was first…
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Price Manipulation in Stocks: Evidentiary Problems
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] SEBI last week passed an order in relation to an investigation involving the promoters of Zee Telefilms Limited. This was under the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Markets) Regulations, 1995 (the SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations). SEBI alleged that the promoters of Zee Telefilms Limited (now Zee…
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Pay Commission Recommendation for Regulatory Bodies Laudable
[Posted by Somasekhar Sundaresan] The Sixth Pay Commission Report has hogged headlines. An interesting and important recommendation that will help the administration of corporate law is the recommendation on payscales for full-time members of regulatory bodies set up under Acts of the Parliament of India. The Commission has recommended that Chairmen of bodies such as…
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Bear Stearns: Some Legal Complications
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] JP Morgan Chase yesterday increased its bid for Bear Stearns to $10 per share from its previous bid of $2, fearing a refusal by shareholders to approve its takeover of the beleaguered broking entity. Several large shareholders of Bear Stearns had expressed disappointment at the initial offer price put out by…
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Special Purpose Acquisition Companies: On the Rise
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) that are also known as “blank check companies” are gradually acquiring prominence in the Indian markets. It is worth briefly examining these entities and their advantages as well as the risks surrounding them. SPACs are essentially shell entities with no business operations, and which raise funds…
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Impact of Global Crisis on the Indian Economy
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] It could have been worse. That is the message emanating from leading commentators on the Indian economy. This is attributable to the Reserve Bank of India’s conservative policies that have largely staved off a deeper crisis within the country. Today’s Business Standard carries a column by its editor T.N. Ninan, where…
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Indian Corporate Law: Now on Television
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] No! It is not this blog that is on television – but the subject-matter of the blog. CNBC-TV18 has launched a series titled “THE FIRM – Corporate Law in India”. The series is expected to deal with issues such as hostile takeovers and defences, corporate governance and other issues pertaining to…
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Derivatives – a constructive critique
[Posted by Pramod Rao] In what i thought could come in as an observation to an earlier post by Kartik – see https://indiacorplaw.in/2008/03/trading-in-futures-financia.html below – turned out slightly differently. so here goes: In considering law governing derivatives in India, couple or more items are noteworthy: Firstly, a very significant development in the Indian legal regime…
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The National Investment Fund
[Posted by Gauri Manglik] Day before yesterday, SEBI has amended the DIP Guidelines to include the National Investment Fund in the definition of ‘Qualified Institutional Buyers’ (QIBs).The National Investment Fund was set up from the proceeds of disinvestment of public sector undertakings. It is intended to be used primarily for funding health and education projects.…
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Enforcement of Corporate Governance Norms
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] A new paper “Corporate Governance, Enforcement, and Firm Value: Evidence from India” authored by Dhammika Dharmapala & Vikramaditya Khanna has been posted on SSRN. Here is the abstract: “This paper analyzes the effects of corporate governance reforms and enforcement on stock market development and firm value, using a sequence of corporate…