Corporate

Jyoti Sagar (retd) assists firm he founded on PepsiCo's VBL deal opposite Dua

J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised PepsiCo India on the transfer of some of its plants and units to its franchisee bottling partner Varun Beverages (VBL) which was advised by Dua Associates. JS A Gurgaon partner Nitesh Bhasin, senior associate Kartik Jain and associate Pranav Gadi acted for PepsiCo, w...

What Sebi’s new insider trading rules mean, and where they fall short

The Insider (Trader)
The Insider (Trader)
“)Regulations require constant modifications to keep pace with the ever evolving market dynamics. Insider trading is no different, explain Khaitan & Co’s Ganesh Prasad and Sanjay Khan.

Lawmin shoots down ex-SC justice Radhakrishnan's name for NCLAT chairman

The law ministry has advised against the setting up of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to chair which recently retired Supreme Court justice KS Radhakrishnan’s name had been recommended, reported the Express . The reported reason for this advice was that the National Company Law ...

Company Secretaries cajole MCA: New Companies Act sections ‘fatal’ to profession’s existence & compliance

CS: Cutting 'em loose
CS: Cutting 'em loose
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) against the newly notified Companies Act sections, some of which are potentially “fatal to the profession of Company Secretaries” in India.

Why and how the RBI relaxed pricing norms for foreign investors in its first policy statement: Jay Parikh

Jay Parikh
Jay Parikh
Verus Advocates partner Jay Parikh explains why the Reserve Bank of India recently announced it won’t dictate valuation of shares for foreign investors anymore.

What you need to know from 1 April of the Companies Act’s 150+ new notified sections

J Sagar Associates (JSA) partner Lalit Kumar has set out the important new sections of the Companies Act that were yesterday announced by the MCA and would be notified and come into force on 1 April.

Agama Law Associates argues new CSR rules are shoddy in policy, shoddier in politics

Agama Law Associates
Agama Law Associates
Archana Balasubramanian, Partner, Agama Law Associates argues that the new Companies Act corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy is deeply flawed at nearly every level.

Opinion: Despite 2013’s flurry of FDI reform 2014 has room for a lot more

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e0f34ph5
JSA partner Lalit Kumar writes that he is pleased with some of the developments coming from India’s regulators to encourage FDI, but much more needs to be done this year if India wants to dream of recovering foreign investor goodwill.

Khaitan, Singhania credited in $335m Crisil rating agency open offer by S&P parent

Khaitan & Co advised Morgan Stanley in managing Standard & Poor’s-owner McGraw Hill Financial’s $335m (Rs 1,957 crore) open offer for 22.23 per cent of shares in India-headquartered credit rating agency Crisil. McGraw Hill was advised by Singhania & Partners. Khaitan & Co partner...

Link Legal, Indian Law Partners, Ashurst drive Japanese equity to Del-Mum corridor

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Link Legal advised Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and the Government of India in raising funding from public sector lender Japan Bank of International Corporation (JBIC). JBIC was advised by Indian Law Partners and Ashurst.

SC applies record $3bn screws to Sahara, lines up crim case. What gives?

sahara
sahara
By Nikhil Kanekal: It’s going to be an incredibly tough future for the Subroto Roy-owned Sahara Group (also known as Sahara India Parivar) after today’s judgment by the Supreme Court of India. The court asked two group companies to return an unprecedented Rs 24,000 crores ($4.3bn) to their roughly 28 million investors, while setting the company and its directors up for possible criminal prosecution.

The judgment is a stinging indictment of the company’s practices. It is also probably the largest ever transaction ordered by an Indian court to date.

New FDI policy: Option-instruments declassified; FM radio, bee-keeping FDI caps raised

The Government of India’s (GOI) new consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy circular effective from 1 October 2011 has de-classified instruments with options from being FDI investments and introduced other significant changes, such as increasing FDI caps in FM Radio and changes in single-brand retail trading norms.

Streamlining FDI, Press Note 1 scrapped

The third consolidated policy circular on the foreign direct investment (FDI) made effective today has scrapped press note 1 and introduced other directives to further streamline FDI investments in India a year after the Government first announced policy overhauls.

Companies Bill to include voluntary CSR obligation

The government is mulling making Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) voluntary rather than mandatory with the objective of invigorating spirit of “intent” over “legislation” in the new Companies Bill which is awaiting parliamentary approval.

DIPP public consultation on FDI in LLPs; Appropriate also for law firms?

The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has invited public discussions on whether foreign direct investments should be allowed into entities and professional services firms, including law firms, incorporated as limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

The Firm video review: Return of the ROFR zombie?

The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
J Sagar Associates (JSA) managing partner Berjis Desai and Aditya Birla Group GC Ashok Gupta debate whether the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) has now come back to life with the latest Bombay HC judgement in the latest episode.

The Firm video review: Should SEBI (or somebody else) mess with Vedanta-Cairn non-compete?

The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
“It looks fishy, it smells fishy,” host Menaka Doshi declared, opening this week’s episode of The Firm with a scorching observation. The burning question on the minds of panellists BMR Advisors partner Gokul Chaudhri, and FinSec Law Advisors founder Sandeep Parekh: can Sebi interfere with Vedanta’s Rs 50 per share non-compete fee paid to Cairn PLC as part of the acquisition of Cairn India?

The Firm reviewed: Will SEBI merge IDRs and the delisting regime?

The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
SEBI is at it again, this time suggesting a possible merger of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) and delisting schemes at its 4 August board meeting. In the words of the regulator: “Some multinational companies with listed subsidiaries in India are exploring the possibility of delisting their shares through an exchange offer.” The Firm’s* panellists sat down and pondered possibilities.

The Firm reviewed: MCX Stock Exchange v SEBI - warranted equity?

The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The question on the panelists’ minds this week on CNBC-TV18’s The Firm: will the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) signal their approval of budding stock exchange MCX-SX’s capital reduction scheme by approving the company’s application to run as a full-fledged stock exchange. Menaka Doshi sat down with Vivek Gupta, Partner at BMR Advisors and Kartik Ganapathy, partner at Indus Law for some answers.

The Firm reviewed: SEBI committee v corporate lawyers in takeover reforms debate

The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
The-Firm-CNBC-TV18
Last week’s episode of CNBC-TV18’s The Firm sat Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee (TRAC) members YM Deosthalee and Sourav Mallik opposite AZB & Partners’ Zia Mody and Amarchand Mangaldas’ Cyril Shroff to discuss some of the intended and unintended consequences of the proposed drastic overhaul of India’s takeover regulations.