[Guest post by Amitabh Robin Singh, who is a corporate lawyer practising in Mumbai] Last month, the Supreme Court of India (“SC“) in the case of National Securities Depository Limited v. Securities and Exchange Board of India ruled that the administrative and legislative orders made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI“) are not assailable before the...
Finance Act Amendments to the SEBI Act and the SCRA: Parliament Settles the Roofit Question
[Guest post by Shashank Prabhakar, who is a lawyer with Finsec Law Advisors] The Finance Bill, 2017, which has been passed by both the houses of Parliament and which was assented to by the President of India on 3 April 2017, has amended certain provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (“SEBI Act”) and the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (“SCRA”). The most...
Hush of the Whistleblower
[Guest post by Malek Shipchandler, who practices law with a firm in Mumbai. Views are personal and do not necessarily represent those of the firm.] The ongoing controversy at one of India’s most celebrated companies, built on high standards of corporate governance, raises some interesting issues for consideration from a whistleblower perspective. It was earlier reported that the Indian...
SAT on Interest Payment Obligations under the SEBI Act
Readers may recall that the securities law were amended in 2013 in order to confer significant enforcement powers on SEBI. This was done initially by the Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 that was promulgated with effect from 18 July 2013. The Ordinance had to be re-promulgated before the amendments finally took shape by way of the Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014. Among the...
The Potential for an Online Private Placement Platform in India
[Guest post by Rishi A, a 5th year at Hidayatullah National Law University, Chhattisgarh] The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has a program that it runs for small and medium scaled enterprises called the ELITE Programme. Providing services like professional advice from industry experts about value-creation and also assistance in issues relating to raising of funds, it requires the enterprises to (i)...
SEBI’s Interference in a Compliance Officer’s Decision under Insider Trading Regulations – A Recent Informal Guidance
[Guest post by Suvan Law Advisors, a law firm specializing in regulatory laws. They can be reached at [email protected]. Disclosure: Partners of Suvan Law Advisors contributories to Justice Sodhi Committee Report on Insider Trading.] SEBI has issued a ‘path-breaking’ Informal Guidance dated February 3, 2017 to Kirloskar Chillers Private Limited (“Kirloskar Private”), which has been made public by...
SEBI’s Special Treatment to Public Sector Banks
[Guest post by Abhishek Borgikar, who is a Senior Associate at Dhaval Vussonji Alliance] Violation of Minimum Public Shareholding Norms The former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Mr. U. K. Sinha, while talking about minimum public shareholding in public sector companies said: “Our [SEBI’s] stand as a regulator is that all cos should be treated alike on all matters...
Disclosure of all ‘actions’ against foreign promoters under ICDR Regulations
[Guest post by Nikunj Agarwal, a fifth-year B.A., LL.B (Hons.) student at Dr. RML National Law University, Lucknow] In recent years, India witnessed a steady increase in foreign investment in the Indian economy. The preceding year also saw many private equity funds and other institutional investors making an exit through the initial public offering (IPO) route. However, legal issue amounting to a...
Integrated Reporting by Indian Companies
[The following guest post is contributed by Nivedita Kannan, who is an associate company secretary with a keen interest in corporate law. She can be reached at [email protected]] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), by way of its circular issued on 6 February 2017 (Circular), advised the top 500 listed companies in India to adopt Integrated Reporting on a voluntary basis from...
Listing of Stock Exchanges and Addressing Conflicts of Interests
A few years ago, we had discussed possible issues that arise out of the commercial operations of a stock exchange. While an exchange is a profit-making institution and is required to act in the interests of its shareholders, it also carries out a regulatory role in selecting companies that are to be listed on it and thereafter in overseeing their compliance with the listing requirements. These...
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