Tag: Securities Regulation
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Price Manipulation in Stocks: Evidentiary Problems
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] SEBI last week passed an order in relation to an investigation involving the promoters of Zee Telefilms Limited. This was under the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Markets) Regulations, 1995 (the SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations). SEBI alleged that the promoters of Zee Telefilms Limited (now Zee…
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Pay Commission Recommendation for Regulatory Bodies Laudable
[Posted by Somasekhar Sundaresan] The Sixth Pay Commission Report has hogged headlines. An interesting and important recommendation that will help the administration of corporate law is the recommendation on payscales for full-time members of regulatory bodies set up under Acts of the Parliament of India. The Commission has recommended that Chairmen of bodies such as…
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Special Purpose Acquisition Companies: On the Rise
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) that are also known as “blank check companies” are gradually acquiring prominence in the Indian markets. It is worth briefly examining these entities and their advantages as well as the risks surrounding them. SPACs are essentially shell entities with no business operations, and which raise funds…
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Immediate agenda for reform before SEBI
[Posted by Somasekhar Sundaresan] When a new chairman takes charge at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) the media tends to be full of what the new chairman ought to be doing. Here are some action items that SEBI ought to address as a matter of priority:- a) The SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors)…
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SEBI Rationalises Filing Fee Structure
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] The following post is contributed by Somasekhar Sundaresan The first board meeting under the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has taken a very significant decision. SEBI has slashed the ad valorem fee rates attendant with filing of various draft offer documents, by nearly 80%, and…
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SEBI Reigns in Art Funds
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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:…
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Tax Benefits for REITs Likely
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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Minimum Public Float in Listed Companies
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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%…
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SEBI: Proposal on Integrated Disclosures
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…
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Stock Market Turmoil and the Role of Regulation
[Posted by Umakanth Varottil] 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…