Tag: International Developments
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Swiss Accounts and Banking Secrecy: Contrasting Outcomes
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] After prolonged discussions, the US and Swiss authorities came to an agreement earlier this month whereby UBS would disclose details of certain US account holders who are suspected of evading US taxes. The Time Magazine outlines the terms: Under the terms of the new agreement, the IRS will submit a request…
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SEC Issues Permanent Ban on Abusive Short Sales
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had issued a temporary ban on the practice of “naked” short sales. By way of a recent press release, SEC has now made the ban permanent. The Press Release defines a “naked” short sale as one where…
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The Efficacy of Conventional Corporate Governance Instruments
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Each time there is a corporate governance scandal (whether in India or elsewhere), the response has been to use a set of instruments (implemented through regulation or best practices) to avoid a repetition of such occurrences. It appears that these instruments have not always been successful as they come with certain…
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The Tale of the Resigning Director
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] In the aftermath of events that occurred at Satyam and Nagarjuna Finance, there has been a mass exodus of independent non-executive directors from boards of Indian listed companies. More often that not, there is no apparent reason offered for resignation by such directors. As we had discussed in an earlier post,…
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The Duties of Non-Executive Directors
[Posted by Mihir Naniwadekar] Earlier discussions on corporate governance norms have raised questions about the role of independent non-executive directors in maintaining appropriate standards of governance. In this context, a recent Australian judgment indicates the nature of duties which a non-executive director may be required to discharge. Australian Securities and Investment Commission v. MacDonald involved…
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A Call for Greater Shareholder Rights under U.S. Law
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The proposed Shareholder Bill of Rights Act of 2009 in the U.S. that comes in the wake of the financial crisis gives rise to an important debate regarding the rights of shareholders in companies. The rationale for the Bill is the perceived failure of corporate governance that led to the crisis.…
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Obama’s ‘Taxing’ Proposals
[Posted by Shantanu Naravane] On Monday (4th May, 2009), the United States President, Barrack Obama announced the proposed implementation of another one of his election promises, targeted towards improving the domestic economic climate, and freeing up financial resources for investment in areas of pressing importance. The proposal is to withdraw the scheme of deferred tax…
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Law Firm Practices and the Global Financial Crisis
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The current issue of Knowledge@Wharton carries an article Legal Strategy 101: It’s Time for Law Firms to Re-think Their Business Model that looks at the impact of the global financial crisis on law firm practices around the world, and considers possible strategies available to law firms and their clients to weather…
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India and China: Foreign Investment and Venture Capital
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] RBI/2008-09/ RBI/2008-09/ The Asian Journal of Comparative Law has just published an interesting article that compares foreign direct investment (FDI) and venture capital investment in the two Asian economic giants. In Unraveling the Puzzle of Differing Rates of FDI and FVCI in India and China the authors Haitian Lu, Hong Huang…
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Spiralling Effects of the Financial Crisis
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] (The global financial crisis is now at a stage where the debate is transcending from one of decline in bottomlines of companies, falls in stock markets, tightening of credit and the like to wider issues that have greater social ramifications. If these issues are not dealt with appropriately, it could lead…