Over the last few months, creditors initiating corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code) have encountered setbacks on procedural counts that have poured cold water on their efforts in resorting to the much sought-after insolvency process. This is attributable to a highly technical and narrow interpretation of certain provisions of the...
Understanding the Dichotomy between Materiality and Price Sensitivity: Where to Draw the Line?
[Anuj Bansal is a 5th year B.A. L.L.B. (Hons.) student at the Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow] The approach of the securities law adjudicatory bodies, as observable through the orders on insider trading, has often given rise to an interesting issue of much academic relevance: what distinguishes ‘price sensitive information’ under SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading)...
Outsourcing Services and Permanent Establishment
[Akash Santosh Loya is a 4th year student of the B.A. LL.B.(Hons.) course at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi, India] In the case of Assistant Director of Income Tax v. M/s E-Funds Solution Inc.,[1] the Supreme Court of India delivered an important decision regarding the Permanent Establishment status of outsourcing functions provided by various information technology (IT)...
Sharing of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information with Promoters
[Shikha Rawal is an Associate at a law firm in Mumbai. The views in this post are personal.] In June this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. Uday Kotak (“Kotak Committee”) to propose reforms to regulations governing listed companies. After careful deliberations, the Kotak Committee submitted a report on October 5, 2017...
Majority Requirement for Creditors’ Approval of Resolution Plan
Background and Legal Question Nearly all of the posts on this Blog that deal with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”) begin with the quip that the Code is still undergoing a gestation period that has led to snags in its implementation. This one is no different. Two separate benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”) have adopted diametrically opposing views on the...
Interpreting the Restriction on Layering of Subsidiaries
[Mayank Labh is a 4th year student at NALSAR University of Law] The Ministry of Corporate Affairs recently notified the Companies (Restriction on Number of Layers) Rules, 2017 (the “Rules”) on 20 September 2017. Much has been debated (here, here and here) on how the Rules affect genuine business structuring of companies and the unnecessary burden and costs it imposes on companies. In this post, I...
Systemizing Fairplay – Key Issues in the Indian Competition Law Regime
[Vedika Mittal is a Research Fellow in the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation vertical at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy] Since the enactment of the Competition Act, 2002 (“Competition Act“), the business milieu has changed considerably globally and in India. More and more businesses are now being run in the virtual world and newer models of business exist now which would have been...
SEBI Clarifies Scope of Embargo Against Share Issuances Following Delisting
Companies that are undertaking a delisting of equity shares must be prepared to endure an embargo that would prevent them from listing their shares for a further period of time (five or ten years, depending upon the circumstances). Such a restriction is contained in regulation 30(1) of the SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2009. This is to prevent companies from retreating the...
Failure of a Creditor to Submit a Claim in an Insolvency Process
[Bhavin Gada is a Partner at Economic Laws Practice, Advocates and Solicitors (“ELP”), and Manendra Singh an Associate Manager at ELP. The authors would like to thank Akshata Limaye, Associate at ELP, for her inputs] The corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) for corporate persons under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) was introduced with the primary objective of providing...
Recovery Proceedings against Guarantors during the Insolvency of the Principal Debtor
[Milind Gaur is a 5th Year BBA LLB student of Symbiosis Law School, Pune.] Introduction With the dawn of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code), a crucial and much needed framework was set in place for tackling the insolvency and bankruptcy regime in India. At the same time, the Code has elicited clarifications and interpretation across various provisions. One such question which...
The Legality of Smart Contracts in India
[Rishi A is legal analyst at spotdraft.com] Introduction Earlier this year, the State Bank of India (‘SBI’) launched BankChain, a blockchain platform formed by a consortium of 27 banks, which was proposed to be used to share e-KYC information about customers within the consortium. This would help with the transmission of information directly to the banks without any leakages or delays. Last week...
Applicability of the Limitation Act to Insolvency Proceedings: A Critical Analysis
[Madhumitha Srinivasan is an Associate at Advaya Legal and practising in the Bombay High Court. The views expressed are personal. An earlier post on the topic is available here] In a decision passed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Black Pearl Hotels Pvt. Ltd. vs. Planet M Retail Ltd. (judgment dated 17 October 2017), it has been observed that the right to apply under the...
Does Section 11B of the SEBI Act Envisage ‘Non-Compliance’ of Directions? – Part I
[Rahul Sibal is a 4th Year student and Deep Shah a 3rd Year student of NALSAR Hyderabad] Background In March this year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’) confirmed an interesting interim order that was passed last year. The interim order (the ‘Order’) impounded profits that Beejay Investments derived from trading in securities, with such profits being termed as ‘unlawful gains’...
Anti-Dilution and Rights Issue: On the Right Side of the Law?
[Job Michael Mathew is a 4th year BA.LL.B (Hons) student at NALSAR University of Law. He may be reached at [email protected]] This post examines whether the instrument of rights issue can be used by unlisted companies in enforcing anti-dilution provisions which may be one of terms in a shareholders’ agreement with a foreign investor. Put simply, anti-dilution means compensating the investor...
Supreme Court Declines to Make Composite Reference to Arbitration from Interrelated Multiple Agreements
[Ritvik M. Kulkarni is an associate with Wadia Ghandy & Co., Mumbai. Views are strictly personal] In its order last month in Duro Fulgeura v. Gangavaram Port Ltd., the Supreme Court of India refused to make a composite reference and to appoint a single arbitral tribunal for disputes arising out of multiple agreements between the same parties (the “Order”). Factual Background A tender was...
The Status of MLM Companies in India
[Shubhi Goyal is a 4th Year Student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] Multi-level Marketing Companies (“MLM Companies”) sell their products and services directly to consumers, instead of following the traditional distribution channel of Manufacturer – Distributor – Wholesaler – Retailer – Consumer. They rely for their business on a non-salaried workforce, which sells products to...
Proxy Holders and Corporate Representatives: The Obligation to Vote According to Instructions
[Job Michael Mathew is a 4th year BA.LL.B (Hons) student at NALSAR University of Law. He may be reached at [email protected]] This post examines the question whether proxyholders appointed under section 105 of Companies Act, 2013 (the “Act”) and corporate representatives appointed under section 113 are required to vote according to the specific instructions given to them by their appointers...
The Ambiguous Treatment of Non-Compete Covenants in Joint Venture Agreements
[Anubhuti Maithani is a 2nd year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, India] A non-compete clause (NCC) is a restrictive covenant, frequently found in combination agreements like mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and joint venture agreements, that prohibits one party from competing with the other on terms stipulated therein. In other words, it restricts one party...
Ordinance to Amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Promulgated
In recent weeks, there has been an intense debate, including on this Blog, about whether promoters (particularly those broadly considered wilful defaulters) must be allowed to bid for assets being sold as part of the resolution plan for a debtor company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”). This debate was sparked partly by certain transparency norms introduced by the...
Undue Emphasis on Certificate from a Financial Institution under Insolvency Law
[Aayush Mitruka is a lawyer based in Delhi] The working of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) has given rise to several challenges which need to be adequately addressed. The Code enables an operational creditor to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) under section 9 provided it has complied with the requirement of sending a demand notice to the corporate debtor...
Settlement under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016: A Contrarian Perspective
[Shaleen Tiwari is an Advocate, Bombay High Court and a graduate of Hidayatullah National Law University, BA.LLB (Hons.), 2016] This post represents a contrarian view to the one adopted in a November 17, 2017 post titled ‘The Jeopardy of Settlements in Insolvency Cases’. Forming the cornerstone of the discussion here is the recent Supreme Court order in Uttara Foods and Feeds Private Limited v...
Survey on Succession Planning in Indian Companies
Historically, the issue of succession planning has received scant attention from a policy perspective in the corporate governance debates in India. More recently, however, succession planning has played a key role in corporate governance episodes such as Tata Sons and Infosys, thereby highlighting the importance of the concept. Regulators and policymakers have begun to place emphasis on...
Unexplored Antitrust and Contract Law Issues In Indian Transport Aggregation
[Arjun Agarwal is a 5th year student at WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata and Pragya Dahiya a 4th year student at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat. The authors can be contacted at [email protected]] Much has been written about anti-trust issues surrounding the practices adopted by the likes of Uber and Ola in India. Hardly any attention has, however, been paid to the...
The Jeopardy of Settlements in Insolvency Cases
[Shreya Prakash is a BCL student at the University of Oxford. Earlier posts on the topic can be found here and here.] The Supreme Court in a recent order recommended that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to the Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016 be amended to allow for settlement between an individual debtor and creditor after an insolvency petition has been accepted. With respect...
Inconsistency between FDI policy and FCRA in the Media Sector
[Aditya Singh Rajput and Nelson Chaudhuri are researchers at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), New Delhi. The authors thank Radhika Pandey and Sumant Prashant from NIPFP for their valuable inputs] The post highlights an inconsistency which exists in the current Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) with respect...
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