Tag: Securities Regulation
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SEBI moves the Supreme Court over SAT order
An order by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in August last year has again stirred the hornet’s nest with respect to the powers of the regulatory bodies, and the resolution of areas of overlap. S. Kumars Nationwide, is a company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and engaged in the business of buying selling,…
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Relaxation in Short Selling Norms
SEBI has introduced changes to the securities lending and borrowing (SLB) framework which may help uplift the market for short sales. The contract tenure for SLB has now been increased to 12 months. The Economic Times notes the rationale: SLB was introduced in April 2008, starting with a contract tenure of seven days. With hardly…
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Compensating Investors: IPO Irregularities
SEBI has recently published a report by the Justice D.P. Wadhwa Committee in connection with irregularities in various IPOs in 2005. The report itself was, however, submitted by the Committee to SEBI as early as December 2007. In those IPOs, certain applications were made by certain persons using fictitious demat and bank accounts in the…
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SEBI Order on Participatory Notes
Just when it appeared that the din surrounding offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) and participatory notes (PNs) had subsided, the significance of regulating these instruments has resurfaced in an order passed by SEBI yesterday in the case of Barclays Bank PLC, a foreign institutional investor (FII) registered with SEBI. By this order, Barclays has been prohibited…
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The Debate over Multiple Classes of Shares
Currently, the issue of shares with differential rights as to voting and dividend is in a state of flux. While the Companies Act, 1956 and the Rules issued pursuant to that allow shares with differential rights, SEBI has proscribed the issue of shares with “superior voting rights” in listed companies, implicitly allowing shares with “inferior”…
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The SEBI-NSDL Controversy
The recent decision of the SEBI to set aside as ultra vires two orders passed by a Special Committee set up by it has led to a huge furore in commercial and legal circles. The origin of the controversy was the appointment of CB Bhave as the Chairperson of the SEBI at a time when…
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A Round-up on Recent SEBI Reforms
Earlier this week, SEBI announced a slew of capital market reforms. This comes in the wake of recovery in the markets as well as the Government’s intention to undertake disinvestments in public sector undertakings (PSU). The principal reforms and their impact are discussed below. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)SEBI has established a separate regime for…
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Powers of SEBI and SEC Compared
In his column in the Business Standard this week, our guest contributor Somasekhar Sundaresan argues that, if one were to go by the rule book, SEBI has greater powers than the SEC. He lists out several significant powers of SEBI that can be exercised without intervention of the court. Here are some excerpts: Take the…
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SAT on indirect acquisitions – correct in letter and spirit
Earlier this month, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (“SAT”) opined on the computation of the minimum offer price for an indirect takeover of a listed company. An interesting critique of this opinion was published on this blog the next day. The SAT had disposed of two appeals (Appeals No. 137 and 139 of 2009) by a…
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The Legal Aspects of Dual Listings
There has recently been a fair amount of discussion regarding the ability of companies to carry out dual listings in India. This arises in the context of dual listing as a possible structure being considered in the Bharti-MTN transaction. Generally, dual listings occur when two or more companies (that otherwise intend to merge) continue as…
