Blog Posts
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The Practice of Corporate Governance in India
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] As far as corporate governance is concerned, although there are detailed norms on paper in the form of Clause 49 of the listing agreement, what matters is their implementation in practice. There are limits to legislating on corporate governance as a lot depends on the integrity and ethical values of various…
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Ranking of India’s Top Law Schools – 2009
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] India Today has just published its survey of top educational institutions in India. As far as law schools are concerned, there has been a shuffle at the very top compared to 2008. National Law School of India University, Bangalore has regained the top spot, while NALSAR, Hyderabad ranks second. They are…
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Possible Delay in LLP Tax Clarification
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Although the Limited Liability Partnership Act came into effect on April 1, 2009, it appears that only about 38 limited liability partnerships (LLPs) have registered themselves under this new legislation. One of the key shortcomings of the existing regime is the lack of clarity on taxation of LLPs as the Income…
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Duties of the Official Liquidator: Madras HC decision
[Posted by Mihir Naniwadekar] A recent judgment of the Madras High Court throws some light on the role of an Official Liquidator. In TCI Distribution Centers v. Official Liquidator (C.A. 1953/2008 in C.P. 526/2000), the Official Liquidator had sold certain properties through an auction-sale. The auction-purchaser later found out that the properties were not exactly…
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SEBI notifies Delisting Regulations 2009 – old but matured wine in a new bottle
[Posted by Jayant Thakur] SEBI has notified Regulations for delisting of equity shares (available here). While I will post a more detailed article over the weekend, some quick comments follow. Delisting of equity shares is without any doubt a sensitive and controversial issue. A listed company may have several valid reasons for delisting its equity…
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Government’s ‘Independent’ Directors
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] With the U.S. Government controlling various companies now, it is in the process of revamping the boards of directors of such companies. The obvious question relates to the role that the Government would take in the management of the companies, and particularly in the selection of their directors. In an op-ed…
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Prospects for Recovery of Capital Markets
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Now that green shoots are visible in the Indian markets with some encouragement from the formation of the new Government, there is an expectation that capital markets are poised for recovery. There seems to be a steady flow of foreign capital into the Indian markets, and Indian companies too seem to…
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Imminence of Merger Control Provisions
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Although the draft of the merger control regulations under the Competition Act, 2002 were issued as early as January 2008 (more than a year ago), they are yet to be enacted. Specifically, there were concerns from industry that the scope and ambit of the regulations were too wide and onerous. Now…
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Shareholder Activism and Class Action Lawsuits
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Recent developments in the Indian corporate sphere – Satyam being the prime example – have raised several calls for instilling the culture of shareholder activism in India. One key form of such activism that keeps companies under check is the availability of class action lawsuits for securities law violations by companies,…