[Shaivi Shah is a 3rd year student and Palash Moolchandani a 4th year student, both at National Law University, Odisha] The Black’s Law Dictionary defines disgorgement as “the act of giving up something (such as profits illegally obtained) on demand or by legal compulsion”. In India, since the enactment of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the tool of disgorgement has been...
SEBI Tightens Reins over the Proxy Advisory Industry
Proxy advisory firms have acquired the status of an important corporate governance intermediary. This is not just globally, but also in India. They play a crucial role of providing voting advice to shareholders (particularly of the institutional variety). In India, the advent of the proxy advisory industry over the last year has invigorated the active participation of institutional shareholders...
Relief Defendants in Recovery Proceedings: Implications of the Dave Committee’s Suggestion
[Pranav Mihir Kandada and Anuraag Bukkapatnam are 3rd year law students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] On June 16, 2020, SEBI notified the report of the High Level Committee under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) Anil R. Dave on the “Measures for Strengthening the Enforcement Mechanism of the Board and Incidental Issues”. The Committee examined the present securities laws and noted...
Disgorgement by SEBI under Section 32A of IBC: Death-Knell for Insolvency Resolution?
[Rongeet Poddar is a graduate of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences & Vishal Hablani is a final year student at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has released a ‘Report on the Measures for Strengthening the Enforcement Mechanism of the Board and Incidental Issues’ on 16 June 2020. The Report has...
Investment Adviser Regulations: Settling the Dust between Advisory and Distribution Services
[Aditya Bhayal and Prachi Tripathi are 4th Year, B.A.LLB (Hons.) students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] In February 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) approved proposals on some regulatory changes to the SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 (the “Regulations”). These changes come in the backdrop of four consultation papers which were released in 2016...
Demystifying the Interface between Securities Law and the IBC
[Hitoishi Sarkar and Yash More are II year students at Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar] On June 16, 2020, a high-level committee constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) under the chairmanship of Justice Anil R. Dave released its report titled Measures for Strengthening the Enforcement Mechanism of the Board and Incidental Issues (“SEBI...
Promoter-Friendly Amendments to the SEBI Takeover Regulations
Cash-starved companies are presently considering raising funds through various means during the economic downturn. When it comes to equity funding, the natural option would be to rely on their promoters to infuse more capital. Towards this end, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 16 June 2020 issued amendments to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers)...
Orders in the WhatsApp Leak Case: Technological Constraints and UPSI
[Pranav Mihir Kandada is a rising 3rd year student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad] Ever since the first case of insider trading through online messaging about two decades ago, insider trading in the digital era has gained new contours over the years. In India, the advent of instant messaging services with end-to-end encryption has turned them into a new venue for communication of...
Opportunistic Delisting in the Times of Covid-19: Need for Checks and Balances
[Tanvi Prabhu is a IV year student and Mansi Mishra a III year student, both at National Law Institute University, Bhopal] With Covid-19 adversely affecting the markets, stocks are trading at multi-year lows. Companies, investors and shareholders are enduring the brunt of a bearish market. But, unsurprisingly, a few companies are embracing this opportunity to exit the stock market completely...
The Delisting Dilemma
When the financial markets are on a decline, company managements tend to utilize it as an opportunity to delist shares from stock exchanges. Not only is there a perception that the depressed market price is far from reflecting the true value of the company, but it also provides the promoters the ability to acquire the shares of the public shareholders at a relatively lesser cost. It is no wonder...
Recent Comments