Tag: Securities Regulation

  • SEBI Reigns in Art Funds

    Art funds have become a popular alternative investment avenue in India (see news reports in Moneycontrol India and Rediff Money). In a communication titled Message for Investors, SEBI has announced that art funds are collective schemes and will therefore fall within the purview of SEBI regulations. Here is the relevant extract: “This message is issued

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  • Tax Benefits for REITs Likely

    An earlier post on this blog had stated that the success of REITs in India would depend upon the availability of tax benefits to the REIT vehicle in the form of a tax pass-through. The Economic Times reports that SEBI has made out a case to the Government seeking that REITs be taxed in the

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  • Minimum Public Float in Listed Companies

    An area that has left an ambiguous trail over the years has been the amount of public shareholding that is required in a company at the time that it embarks on a listing and thereafter on a continuous basis. Numbers for public shareholding limits have, in the past, ranged from 60% to 40% to 25%

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  • SEBI: Proposal on Integrated Disclosures

    An aspect of the Indian securities regulations that has always been somewhat puzzling is the stark disparity in the disclosure regimes governing the primary markets and secondary markets. While a strong disclosure regime has been a boon to the primary markets where companies making a public offering are required to issue a prospectus with fairly

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  • Stock Market Turmoil and the Role of Regulation

    This is a cross-post from the Law and Other Things blog, to which also I contribute. Riding the downward tide of the global capital markets, Indian stock prices too tumbled 1,408 points on Monday, January 21, 2008 making investors poorer by $155 billion in a single day. The rout continued on Tuesday as well, before

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  • Stoneridge: US Supreme Court Limits Scope of Securities Law Suits

    BackgroundA significant decision in the area of securities laws was handed two days ago by the US Supreme Court in the case of Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. In its judgment (available here), the court (by a 5:3 majority) held that private actions for securities fraud (under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange

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  • Simplifying Corporate Bond Issuances

    Continuing with the spate of regulatory announcements by SEBI over the turn of the new year, it yesterday issued a press release proposing simplification of the primary issuance process for corporate bonds. It has released a consultative paper on the “Draft SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008” for comment until January 23,

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  • Insider Trading and Short Swing Profits

    SEBI yesterday issued a Consultative Paper on introduction of ‘Short Swing Profit’ regulations in India. Under this proposal, any insider would be compelled to surrender profits to the company that are derived from a transaction involving the purchase and sale of securities by the insider within a period of six months. The consultative paper sets

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  • REITs on the Anvil

    Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are similar to mutual funds. However, unlike mutual funds that usually hold securities, the underlying assets held by REITs are constituted by real estate properties. Investors in REITs can participate in returns from these real estate investments. The last couple of years have seen a boom in the real estate

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  • Promoters’ Contribution; SEBI Ruling in the Reliance Power Case

    In its order passed yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ruled that shares acquired by the promoters of Reliance Power Limited (RPL) pursuant to a scheme of amalgamation approved by the High Court of Bombay would be eligible for computation of promoters’ contribution under the SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines. SEBI

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