Tag: Financial Markets
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RBI’s Stance on Bitcoins and Other Virtual Currencies
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Earlier this month, we had highlighted some legal issues pertaining to Bitcoin, as that form of virtual currency has been gaining ascendancy the world over. We had stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as the currency regulator, would certainly be seized of the issue. It now emerges that it…
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The Legalities of Bitcoin
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The phenomenon of Bitcoin has taken the financial world by storm. A form of currency, although it came into existence only in 2009, it has increased exponentially both in usage and value. It has been said that the value of Bitcoin has appreciated by a whopping 5,000% in less than a…
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FSLRC Report
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The report of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, which has recommended elaborate reforms in the financial sector,…
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Black Money: Corporate Entities and Securities Markets
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The Government yesterday tabled its White Paper on Black Money in Parliament. Billed as the first document to comprehensively tackle the issue, it cites various studies and is replete with data. However, it has already been subjected to criticism from various quarters owing to the lack of details and clarity in…
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JP Morgan’s Trading Losses: Regulation and Governance
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] There has been a great deal of debate surrounding JP Morgan’s hedging losses announced last week. There is some mystery surrounding the nature of the transactions involved, without full clarity yet on the amount of losses. Andrew Ross Sorkin has a brief explanation of the episode in the New York Times:…
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Diaspora Bonds
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The Economist has a piece that discusses the advantages of diaspora bonds to poor countries. It notes: The idea is simple. Poor-country governments can issue bonds and market them to emigrants in rich countries. There are several advantages to milking members of a diaspora. They are often patriotic: they like the…
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The New Microfinance Institutions Bill
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Over the last year or so, there has been a serious debate about the nature of regulation governing the microfinance sector. In view of the debacle in Andhra Pradesh, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Malegam to review issues pertaining to the…
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Infrastructure Development Fund
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The Ministry of Finance has issued a press release that paves the way for setting up “Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs) in order to accelerate and enhance the flow of long term debt in infrastructure projects for funding the government’s ambitious programme of infrastructure development.” IDFs are envisaged to be suitable vehicles…
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Islamic Finance and the Indian Constitution
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The concepts of Islamic banking and Islamic finance are yet to gain significant ground in India and attain the popularity they have witnessed in other countries. While there has been a debate about the need for a separate legal framework in India to promote the form of finance recognized under principles…