Tag: SEBI
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Allahabad High Court Stay in the SEBI-Sahara Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] (This post has been contributed by Amit Agrawal, a legal practitioner practicing before Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur and an alumnus of National Law School of India University, Bangalore) In the SEBI-Sahara controversy, SEBI has previously issued an ad-interim order on November 24, 2010 (discussed previously on this Blog) against Sahara entities…
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Further Observations on SEBI’s Order in the Sahara Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] (The following post has been contributed by Vijay Kumar, a lawyer and a company secretary by qualification, who is practising as an Advocate in the Chennai High Court with the law firm of Iyer and Thomas) Further to the earlier post on this Blog, a few aspects that emerge from the…
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Offering of Debentures: SEBI’s Order in the Sahara Case
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Earlier this week, SEBI issued an order restraining two entities of the Sahara group as well as certain promoters and directors from accessing the capital markets. While Sahara Prime City Limited had filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in connection with its proposed IPO, SEBI received complaints that…
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Disclosure as an Instrument of Securities Regulation
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The almost universally accepted strategy for securities regulation is to require issuers to make adequate disclosures in offering documents. The role of the regulators is to determine the extent of disclosures required. It is then left to investors to rely upon the disclosures and to make a decision as to whether…
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Changes to Capital Markets Regulations
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] On October 25, 2010, SEBI announced a number of changes to regulations governing capital markets. 1. Public offerings. A new regime is being established for IPOs by insurance companies. Rather than issue a new set of guidelines for that industry, SEBI has decided to apply the ICDR Regulations, 2009 along with…
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SEBI Order on MCX Stock Exchange
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] SEBI yesterday issued a detailed order rejecting the application of MCX-SX to commence trading in several exchange segments. The background of the case and the gist of SEBI’s order are available at Business Standard and Livemint. SEBI’s conclusion is based on a legal analysis (a fairly intensive one for a regulator)…
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Barclays Order: ODI Restrictions Lifted by SEBI
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] In December 2009, we had discussed SEBI’s order whereby Barclays was found to have failed in complying with certain disclosure norms while issuing offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) under the SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995. For this, SEBI had prohibited Barclays from issuing, subscribing or otherwise transacting in any ODIs until…
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Extending Securities Regulation to the Fourth Estate
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] A free and active press generally provides impetus for instilling enhanced corporate governance practices in any economy, as it does in India. However, conflicts of interest that the media faces may create distorted incentives that dilute these objectives. One such conflict is presented by the concept of “private treaties” whereby media…
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SEBI’s Domain Over Auditors of Listed Companies
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court issued its judgment in the case of Price Waterhouse & Co. v. Securities and Exchange Board of India. The court ruled that SEBI possesses necessary powers to initiate investigations against an auditor of a listed company for alleged wrongdoing. Facts: A writ petition was…
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DEMAT Account for Religious Deities
[Posted by Shantanu Naravane] An interesting issue recently fell for the consideration of the Bombay High Court- whether DEMAT accounts could be held in the name of deities. The Court answered this question in the negative, relying on largely practical and partially moralistic reasons in coming to its conclusions. The decision was pronounced by a…