[Manas Rohilla and Smruti Kulkarni are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] Regulators impose various restrictions and obligations on insiders of a company, such as mandatory disclosure of trades, trading window closures, contra-trade prohibitions, and the like, to prevent insider trading. However, these restrictions may also pose challenges...
Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: A Dilemma for Fintechs?
[Ganesh BL is an associate at a law firm in Mumbai] The Indian Government has, after prolonged consideration, enacted the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (‘DPDP Act’). The DPDP Act provides a comprehensive legal framework for the collection and use of digital personal data (‘DPD’). The DPDP Act identifies two parties involved in the collection of DPD, i.e., a data fiduciary and a data...
Supreme Court Clarifies the Extent of Liability of Personal Guarantors under the IBC
[Tanisha Gautam is a 4th year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] The impact of a personal guarantee in relation to a corporate debtor undergoing insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the “Code”) has raised interesting legal issues. A personal guarantee refers to a promise made by an individual (the guarantor) to assume...
Clarity or Complexity?: Decoding the Supreme Court’s Verdict on Interpreting MFN Clause in DTAAs
[Manas Rohilla and Smruti Kulkarni are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] On October 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of India, in the case of Assessing Officer Circle (International Taxation) 2(2)(2) New Delhi v. Nestle SA delivered a controversial decision regarding the interpretation and application of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clauses in...
MCA’s New SBO Compliance Regulations for LLPs – A Futile Effort?
[Manya Sharma is a 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University Odisha] The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) issued a notification dated 27 October 2023 introducing The Limited Liability Partnership (Significant Beneficial Owners) Rules, 2023 effective from November 10. These rules come in addition to MCA’s notification last year extending the applicability of section 90 of...
Revisiting the Ban on Futures Trading of Agri-Commodities in India
[Shuchi Agrawal is a research fellow in the Corporate Law and Financial Regulation team at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy] On 27 October 2023, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) extended the ban on futures trading in seven agricultural commodities for a year, that is, until 20 December 2024. Wheat, paddy (non-basmati), chana, mustard seeds, soya bean, crude palm oil and moong are...
SAT Ruling in the Zee Entertainment Case
In a ruling late last month, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) reversed an order of the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) dated August 14, 2023 in the case involving Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). The SEBI order had barred Mr. Punit Goenka from holding the position of director or key managerial personnel in ZEEL or other related companies. The...
The Complex Jurisprudence of Dividend Distribution Tax as Inverse Split Rate
[Rupam Dubey is a third year B.A.LLB student at the National Law School of India University Bangalore] The landscape of dividend taxation in India has experienced significant changes over the past two decades, leading to a perplexing situation for courts and income tax tribunals. This uncertainty surrounding the nature of the dividend distribution tax (DDT) has resulted in contradictory judgments...
Ignorance is Bliss (?): Analysing the Treatment of Contingent Claims under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
[Saksham Chaturvedi and Devansh Sehgal are final year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) students at National Law University, Odisha] Any claim against the corporate debtor (‘CD’) which is pending adjudication or has not been crystallised as of the insolvency commencement date is known as a contingent claim. By virtue of the moratorium issued under section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (‘IBC...
Finfluencers in the Regulatory Crosshairs: SEBI’s Baap of Chart Interim Order
[Sourav Paul is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] The rapid expansion of social media has significantly impacted securities markets, with the emergence of finfluencers, who provide investment advice on social media platforms. These finfluencers have a huge following, primarily comprising retail investors, and exert more...
Deciphering Tax Evasion: A Legal Perspective on Leveraging AI/ML for Robust Enforcement
[Syed Alwaz Asif is a penultimate year law student at Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow.] In an era where organizations and governments are inundated with vast amounts of data, the challenge of effectively detecting and preventing tax fraud has intensified. The overwhelming magnitude of information available often surpasses human capacity to discern intricate patterns and...
Examining the Viability of Corporate Insolvency Resolution for Section 8 Companies
[Niharika Agarwal and Akshita Bhansali are 3rd year students at Gujarat National Law University] In Educomp Infrastructure & School Management Limited v. Millennium Education Foundation (4 July 2023), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (“NCLAT”) held that an application filed under section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) is maintainable in case of a corporate...
GST’s New Frontier: Taxability of Corporate Guarantees
[Esha Rathi is a final year B.B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at Jindal Global Law School] Parent companies extending corporate guarantees for their subsidiaries is a common practice but has been a subject of debate on whether it can be construed as a taxable service. In July 2023, the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence issued tax demand notices to numerous local corporate...
An Endeavour to Understand the “Endeavours” Clause and its “Legal Transplant” in India
[Shinoj Koshy and Radhika Malpani are with Luthra and Luthra Law Offices] Globalisation has led to a significant increase in the cross-border transactions and this in turn has led to “legal transplants” – a phenomenon where contracts memorializing cross-border transactions tend to include legal terms and concepts which are prevalent in other legal systems. The term “legal transplant” was coined...
Unveiling SEBI’s Game-Changing Market Rumours Amendment
[Raashi Sanjay Sarupria is a 3rd-Year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Gujarat National Law University] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has implemented significant amendments to the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (“LODR Regulations”), effective from October 1, 2023. The SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) (Second...
KPIs in IPO Documents – A Year In Review
[Suchisubhra Sarkar, a graduate of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, is a capital markets practitioner with over four years of experience at leading law firms.] In the aftermath of poor post-listing performance by technology companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) took cognizance of the need to standardize and disclose valuation metrics. In...
Streamlining the Voluntary Liquidation Process: IBBI’s Proactive Move
[Manas Rohilla and Smruti Kulkarni are 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] On 5 October 2023, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) took a proactive stance by releasing the Discussion Paper on Streamlining the Voluntary Liquidation Process (Discussion Paper), proposing amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India...
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SEBI’s Quest for Transparency: Decoding the Disclosure Mandate and the Impact on FPIs
[Palash Varyani is a 3rd-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] In a recent development, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who meet the stipulated criteria to demonstrate an unprecedented level of transparency regarding their beneficial ownership structures. This disclosure requires...
India’s Commitment to the Cape Town Convention: A Recent MCA Notification
[Tanay Dubey is a third year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University Odisha] Through a notification dated 3 October 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) exempted transactions, arrangements, or agreements relating to aircraft, aircraft engines, airframes and helicopters from the application of the moratorium clause under section 14(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code...
RBI’s Draft Directions on Wilful Defaulters: Implications and Concerns
[Aamir Kapadia and Tejas Venkatesh are penultimate year BBA L.L.B. (Hons.) students at Jindal Global Law School] On September 21, 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) released the Draft Master Direction on treatment of Wilful Defaulters and Large Defaulters. The purpose behind the draft is to solicit public comments on proposed regulations to tighten the norms applicable to wilful defaulters...
Navigating Regulation 62A of SEBI’s Listing Regulations: Implications on India’s NCD Market
[Tanishq Vijay Vargiya and Vaibhav Nishad are 3rd year students at the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has on 21 September 2023 published the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2023 (the ‘Amendment’), by which it introduced regulation 62A of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and...
Algorithmic Anti-Discounting in F.T.C. v. Amazon: Neo-Brandeisian Lessons for Competition Law
[Chytanya S Agarwal is a 3rd-Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore] Recently, the American Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’) sued Amazon alleging that its practices unlawfully maintained its monopoly. The complaint was based on two main grounds – first, the algorithmic processes used by Amazon to curate its search results penalise the retailers...
Critiquing SEBI’s Narrow Interpretation of the Inter-Se Transfer Exemption
[Simran Sharma is a fourth year B.A.,LL.B (Trade and Investment Law Hons.) student at National Law University, Jodhpur} The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) provided informal guidance in June this year on the interpretation of the “inter se transfer exemption” under the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 (“Takeover Code”). This post aims to...
Capital Reduction: Tax Conundrums
[Sumit Bansal (Partner), Shivani Chhabra (Associate) and Taranjeet Singh (Associate) are with S&R Associates, Advocates] Capital reduction refers to the technique of reducing a company’s share capital in any form. It is a mechanism usually adopted by companies for re-modelling their capital structure, amongst other means (viz., buy-back of shares and redemption of preference share capital)...
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