Tag: Company Law
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Guest Post: The Changing Definition of Debentures
[The following post is contributed by Nidhi Bothra of Vinod Kothari & Co. She can be contacted at nidhi@vinodkothari.com] The new Companies Act, 2013 has changed the regulatory face of the corporate India; “raising the bar on Corporate Governance.” The new regulatory changes including need for CSR activities, increased investor protection, greater transparency in business…
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Court-Convened Meetings and Postal Ballot
Background In one of the first few cases interpreting the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (the 2013 Act), the Bombay High Court last week issued its judgment on the use of postal ballot facility at a court-convened meeting to consider a scheme of arrangement. In re Godrej Industries Limited, the court was concerned with…
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Further Tax Scrutiny of Mergers
In the last few years, mergers of companies (undertaken through schemes of arrangement that require the approval of the High Court) have been subject to greater scrutiny by the tax authorities. One example of a merger that was strongly objected to by the tax authorities is the case involving Vodafone Essar Gujarat Limited (discussed here),…
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Companies Act, 2013: Directors’ Duties and Liabilities
The NSE Centre for Excellence in Corporate Governance (CECG) has issued its most recent quarterly briefing titled “Directors’ Duties and Liabilities in the New Era”. The executive summary is as follows: – Since directors and the board play a pivotal role in corporate governance, the law foists duties and liabilities on them; – The Companies…
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Delaware Standard for Controlled Company Mergers
Delaware courts have long been considering disputes pertaining to mergers between companies and their controlling shareholders. Not only do such mergers involve related party transactions but they are also used as a means to squeeze out the minority shareholders of the target who are cashed out as part of the merger. In one of the…
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Guest Post: MCA Takes Lawmaking Into Its Own Hands
[The following is a guest post from Vinod Kothari of Vinod Kothari & Co. He can be contacted at vinod@vinodkothari.com] If the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ (MCA) recent rules, that came a bit too many over a day too less, to replace the nearly 60-year old Companies Act 1956 by the Companies Act, 2013, ultimately…
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Scope of a “Debenture”
The England and Wales Court of Appeal recently had occasion to consider the meaning and scope of the expression “debenture” in the context of a charge document. Consistent with some previous rulings of English Courts, the Court of Appeal provided a somewhat expansive definition of the expression “debenture” so as include within its fold a…
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Guest Post: Regulations by SEBI under the Companies Act, 2013 for Promoter Acquisitions
[The following post is contributed by Yogesh Chande, who is a Consultant with Economic Laws Practice, Advocates & Solicitors. Views of the author are personal] In terms of section 13(8) of the Companies Act, 2013 (Act), a company, which has raised money from public through prospectus and has any unutilised amount out of the money…
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Further Provisions of Companies Act, 2013 Notified
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs today issued a notification that brings into effect several provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 with effect from April 1, 2014. These include several substantive provisions that would affect the manner in which companies are managed. Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table…
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Guest Post: Directorship in a Company: Cap of Thorns
[The following post is contributed by Nidhi Bothra and Abhirup Ghosh at Vinod Kothari & Co. They can be contacted at nidhi@vinodkothari.com and abhirup@vinodkothari.com respectively] The Companies Act, 2013 (CA, 2013) brings about a sea change in the way the charter guiding corporate India will look like. The existing Act of 1956 has been the…
