Blog Posts
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Should Insider Trading be Permitted?
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] An affirmative answer to this question will almost always be dismissed as outlandish. But, Henry Manne, who is considered the father of law and economics, has argued for deregulation of insider trading for the last 40 years. His ideas have encountered a barrage of criticisms from other legal scholars. Further, as…
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Analysing Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bonds (FCEBs)
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] When it came to borrowings in foreign currency, Indian companies hitherto had two options, namely (i) external commercial borrowings (ECBs) where they borrow monies in foreign currency, or (ii) foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) where they issue bonds denominated in foreign currency that are convertible into shares of the issuer company.…
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Indian Sovereign Wealth Fund: Now a Possibility
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have become the flavour of the day. Not only are the SWFs of various countries investing billions of dollars in companies around the world, they are generating a significant amount of skepticism from regulators in host countries urging greater transparency.As far as India is concerned, initial indications…
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Guest Contributor: Somasekhar Sundaresan
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] It is my pleasure to introduce our guest contributor, Mr. Somasekhar Sundaresan Practice Focus: Capital Markets, Securities Laws, Banking and Non-banking Financial Services and Mergers and Acquisition involving listed companies. Somasekhar has extensive experience and expertise in the practice and evolution of securities laws in India. While primarily a transactional lawyer,…
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Competition Act and Merger Regulation
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Today’s Economic Times carries a column by Jaishree Vyavaharkar & David Jacobs of Baker & McKenzie analyzing the provisions of the Act and the recent draft regulations on business combinations, with specific reference to implications on foreign investors. Here are some excerpts: “A fundamental concern for foreign investors was the lack…
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Northern Rock: Bank Nationalisation
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] As the Economist reports, Britain’s Government has decided to nationalise the ailing Northern Rock Bank, after unsuccessful efforts to sell it to a private player. The strategy followed recently by the Reserve Bank of India in the case of ailing Indian Banks has been somewhat different. It has usually exercised its…
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Stolen Information and Stock Trades: Is it Insider Trading?
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] This question has come up before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York. Interestingly, this involves stealing of information by hacking a computer system. Here are the brief facts as reported in the New York Times: “[T]he evidence indicates that on Oct. 17, 2007, someone…
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Guest Contributor: Gauri Manglik
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] It is my pleasure to introduce our guest contributor, Ms. Gauri Manglik. Gauri is an associate at Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co. where her work includes capital markets, private equity and other corporate advisory work. Gauri graduated in the top 5% of the Masters of Law (LLM)…
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Hostile Takeovers in India: Opportunities and Challenges (Part 2)
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] After dealing with the history of hostile takeovers in India and possible regulatory obstacles, Shaun’s article moves on to deal with what I find is an interesting analysis of the availability of some of the key takeover defences in the Indian context. I highlight some of his observations (and also intersperse…
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Hostile Takeovers in India: Opportunities and Challenges (Part 1)
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Hostile takeovers of companies (otherwise referred to as the market for corporate control) is a rather well-known phenomenon in the corporate sphere. The 1980s (a.k.a. the deal decade) were famous in the US for large hostile transactions that set fire to lawyer ingenuity resulting in the development of various takeover defences.…