Blog Posts
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Disclosure of Pledge of shares of Promoters – some more thoughts
SEBI had notified amendments requiring disclosure of pledged/encumbered shares of Promoters that were discussed preliminarily here where the links of the notifications were also given. A reading of these notifications, issued differently over a few days, but read together, reveals some points worth highlighting here. 1. It may be recollected that now there are three…
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SEBI provides disclosure formats for pledged shares of Promoters
Further to my earlier post here, SEBI has issued today, 3rd February 2009, two circulars which essentially lay down formats for disclosures of pledged shares by Promoters and related matters. The first one gives the format for disclosures pursuant to newly introduced Regulation 8A of the Takeover Regulations and the second one provides for amendment…
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Proposed Change in Takeover Rules: More than Just Satyam
A few days ago, when newspapers reported that SEBI was considering an exemption from the minimum pricing norms in the context of a potential takeover offer on Satyam, the obvious question arose as to how an exception can be made in respect of a single company, and that too one which has been the subject…
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SEBI notifies amendments for disclosure of pledged shares of Promoters
SEBI has notified here the amendments requiring disclosure of pledged shares of Promoters and persons forming part of the Promoter Group (referred collectively as “Promoters” here). This issue has been the hot topic on and off this Blog and hence much background is not required for this except a few brief following sentences. The Satyam…
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Further Spill-Over Effects Of Satyam
An article in today’s Business Standard mentions the renewed interest the Income Tax Department is taking the compliance of Chartered Accountants with their due diligence obligations. In the case of transactions involving remission of money outside India, the Income Tax Act permits the production of a certificate from the CA stating that the transaction is…
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The Role of the Debt Recovery Tribunal
In the recent past, several important questions have arisen with respect to the role of the Debt Recovery Tribunal [“DRT]. Some of these have been discussed on this blog. An interesting feature of the DRT is that only banks and financial institutions are entitled to invoke its jurisdiction, while borrowers are not. The question that…
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Foreign Investment in Partly-paid Shares
One of our regular readers, Rajvendra Sarswat, brings to our attention a recent news report indicating a proposal for allowing foreign investors to take up partly-paid shares in Indian companies. As Rajvendra rightly observes, “currently, if a foreign investor wishes to invest in India in installments, such as by paying half of the price for…
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SFIO: Its Role and Track Record
Although the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, has been in existence for over 5 years now, its role has been accentuated owing to the recent turn of events at Satyam Computers. The SFIO has been charged with the task of investigating the fraud at Satyam within a…
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Concept of “Promoter”
In his column in the Business Standard, Somasekhar Sundaresan makes an interesting argument for abolishing the concept of “promoter” under various SEBI regulations and for encouraging board-driven governance in Indian companies.
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SUPREME COURT ON THE ‘COMMERCIAL’ CLAUSE UNDER THE ARBITRATION ACT
In a recent judgment, in Comed Chemicals Ltd. v. C.N. Ramchand, the Supreme Court has provided an expansive scope to the phrase “commercial” in International Commercial Arbitration. The importance of this lies in the fact that, keeping in with the rise of international commercial arbitration as an effective, alternative means of dispute resolution, most jurisdictions…
