[Ganesh BL and Shubhalakshmi Bhattacharya are Associates at a law firm in Mumbai] On 21 July, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) issued a consultation paper (“Consultation Paper”) proposing a regulatory framework to govern online bond trading platforms (“Bond Platforms”). This comes at a time when India has witnessed a transformation in the number of retail investors...
Extension of Insider Trading Regulations to Mutual Funds
[Ajitesh Arya is the 4th year BA LLB (Hons.) students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] Recently, the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) floated a consultation paper proposing the expansion of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 [Insider Trading Regulations] to encompass mutual fund units. The move is interesting as it comes in the aftermath of a front...
Amendments and Relaxations to Pave the Way for the LIC IPO
[Arjya B. Majumdar teaches Securities Regulation and related subjects at the Jindal Global Law School. With acknowledgements to the immensely helpful discussions with Mr Sayantan Dutta, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas] On 27 April 2022, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (‘LIC’) filed its Red Herring Prospectus (‘RHP’) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI’) for its...
The Applicability of Insider Trading Regulations to Pooled Investment Vehicles
[Sikha Bansal is a Partner and Aisha Begum Ansari a Manager at Vinod Kothari & Co] From a surveillance and compliance perspective, the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 (‘PIT Regulations’) focus on designated persons (DPs). Trading in securities of the listed company by DPs is sought to be “regulated, monitored and reported” by the Code of Conduct (regulation 9 read with...
Credit Rating Agencies In India: A Critique of SAT’s Ruling Against Care Rating
[Sidharth Pattnaik and Sneha Rath are 4th Year B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) and 3rd Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students respectively at National Law University Odisha] In this post, we focus on the developments around Care Rating Agency’s (CARE) alleged dereliction of its duty to rate Reliance Communications’ (RCom) creditworthiness over a period of four quarters, and the subsequent initiation of inquiry...
Non-Fungible Tokens: An Indian Perspective
[Aiyushi Mehrotra is a 4th Year B.A., LLB. student at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] Non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) are digital blockchain tokens that identify ownership or particulars of unique items, whether they be digital or real in form. They are traded and programmed in the same way as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, but that is where the similarities...
Green Bonds in India: The Present and What Next
[Naga Sai Srikar HK is a fifth-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), student at School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Bangalore] Green bonds (GBs) have lately gained prominence globally and are being seen as a lucrative opportunity by both investors and corporations looking at debt financing options. The Covid-19 pandemic has nudged policy makers across the world to rethink on priorities and adopt...
Sustainability-Linked Bonds: The Next Frontier in Sustainable Finance?
[Umang Bhat Nair and Vedant Kashyap are fourth year BA. LL.B.(Hons.) students at the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] Earlier this year, India witnessed its first issue of a Sustainability-Linked Bond (‘SLB’) by UltraTech Cement. This is in line with India’s endeavour to achieve all of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. India also wishes to achieve a robust 175 gigawatt of renewable...
Mandatory Sunset Provisions in Shares with Superior Voting Rights
[Bhavya Solanki is a 4th year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai] Shares with differential voting rights [“DVR”], internationally known as dual class shares [“DCS”], are shares which have rights disproportionate to their economic ownership. DVRs include shares with superior voting rights [“SR Shares”] and shares with...
The Reliance Open Offer Penalty: ‘Unexplained’ Delays in Regulatory Action
Shikhar Aggarwal is a 3rd year B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University, Delhi] On 7 April 2021, the Adjudicating Officer (“AO”) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) imposed a monetary penalty of ₹25 crore jointly on 34 entities, including brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani and other promoters of Reliance Industries Limited (“RIL”), for their failure to comply with the...
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