[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...
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...
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...
One Year On: The Effect of Demonetization on the Companies Act, 2013
[Shikha Rawal is an Associate at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.] “Demonetization” is a topic that has evoked considerable interest and strong opinions across the board since it was announced a year ago, i.e. on November 8, 2016. The goal of demonetization was to eliminate the unaccounted cash transactions, and thereby strengthen the economy. Differences of opinion abound on whether...
Regulation of Equity Based Crowdfunding in India
[Priyanka Sunjay is a Fourth year student, B.A., LL.B.(Hons), National Law University, Jodhpur] Crowdfunding is a means by which an entrepreneur or business raises financing by way of small contributions from a large number of individuals using mass communication through the Internet. It is usually used to raise funds for films, art, business ventures or social causes. There are various types of...
Ascertaining Legal Ramifications of Compensation Agreements- Part III (In Search of Common Law Defences to Statutory Violations)
[The following post, the third in a series, has been contributed by Rahul Sibal, 4th year student of NALSAR Hyderabad. The first two posts in the series are available here and here.] In the previous post it was argued that section 166 of the Companies Act, 2013 (the ‘Act’), which partially codified the common law doctrines of no-conflict and no-profit, did not provide for consent-based...
Restrictions on Layering of Subsidiaries Now Effective
In two earlier posts published in July (here and here), our guest contributors had voiced their trenchant criticism of the Government’s move to introduce restrictions of the ability of companies to create layers of subsidiaries. After a round of consultation, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has decided to implement the restrictions, which have now been brought into force. The MCA has...
NCLAT Ruling on Maintainability in the Tata Sons Case
Earlier this week, the National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLAT”) issued its ruling in Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd v. Tata Sons Ltd on whether the Mistry group’s action for oppression and mismanagement in respect of Tata Sons is maintainable. Although the NCLAT ruled that the Mistry group’s petition did not meet the requirements of maintainability under section 244 of the Companies Act, 2013 (the...
Conversion of Tata Sons into a Private Limited Company: In Whose Interest?
The proposed conversion of Tata Sons Limited from a public limited company to a private limited company has reignited the corporate governance issues that the Tata Group has faced over the last year or so. Menaka Doshi has an interesting piece (and an accompanying interview with two corporate lawyers) in BloombergQuint that sets out some of the background to why Tata Sons proposes (and that too...
Conflicts and Gaps in Regulatory Aspects of Schemes of Arrangement
[Guest post by Purvi Khanna, a 4th year student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.] The Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ recent notifications formalise an overhaul in the procedure for Schemes of Arrangements (“SoA”). . This post attempts to shed light on certain commercial aspects, and the inconsistencies and overlaps in the provisions of the Companies Act 2013 (the “Act”), the...
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