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Sebi's circular naming defaulters draws flak; companies approach FinMin The list featured some prominent names like SBI Capital, Axis Capital, GMR Holdings, United Breweries, Alpic Finance, Saradha Realty, United Bank of India &Trident India Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is once again caught on the wrong foot, and this time for one of its recent circulars that made public names of over 2,000 entities, which have defaulted on its dues Some of the companies named in the list have raised objections with the finance ministry, stating that the list was erroneous, said sources aware of the development. The regulator had pulled out the circular dated 2 April within hours without any explanation. But, the uncertainty and confusion among market players, triggered by the list, lingered. The list featured some prominent names like SBI Capital, Axis Capital, GMR Holdings, United Breweries, Alpic Finance (a Cipla group unit), Saradha Realty, United Bank of Indi…

Homebuyers, MSMEs may Get IBC Relief Govt plans ordinance to ease disqualifications under Section 29A, clarify definition of a related party The government could soon promulgate an ordinance to make changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code that will provide relief to small businesses and homebuyers, relax disqualifications under Section 29A and clarify the definition of a related party. The changes are based on the recommendations of a high-level law committee chaired by Injeti Srinivas, secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs.The Union Cabinet could consider the ordinance as early as Wednesday, according to a senior government official. The decree will empower the central government to modify or exempt medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) from various provisions of the code including Section 29A, which bars those with non-performing loans from bidding under the resolution process. Barring wilful defaulters, Section 29A will not be applicable to resolution applicants wanting to…

Banks told to Shell Out Tax on ‘Free Services’ to Customers I-T dept to levy tax on services provided to users maintaining minimum a/c balance The tax department has asked country’s top lenders including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to pay tax that could run into thousands of crores, on ‘free services’ provided to customers maintaining a minimum account balance, with retrospective effect. Show cause notices have been issued by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGST) and is likely to be made on other banks as well.The tax will be levied for the last five years, the period for which past service tax cases can be opened, said a senior official aware of the details. The tax is being calculated after taking into account charges recovered by banks from customers who do not maintain a minimum account balance. This per account charge, for those who keep a minimum balance, is being considered as the deemed value of the…

RBI clampdown puts cryptocurrency traders, exchanges in a spot RBI’s decision, which was aimed largely at protecting interests of consumers, caused panic selling among crypto investors, traders in India The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent crackdown on cryptocurrencies has left investors, traders, and crypto exchanges in a fix, prompting them to tap alternative means to convert their cryptocurrency into rupees and exposing them to the risk of losing their holdings, experts said. RBI recently put out a circular forbidding entities it regulates from dealing with cryptocurrencies. Banks were given three months to settle all outstanding payments to crypto exchanges in India While RBI’s decision was aimed largely at protecting the interests of consumers, the directive caused panic selling among crypto investors and traders in India. Exchanges in the country started exploring opportunities to register outside India to carry on trading.Nischal Shetty, chief executive of cryptocurrency exchan…

India’s Pace of Growth Likely to Accelerate in 2018-19: RBI Guv The Indian economy gave a resilient performance in 2017-18 and the country’s growth is expected to accelerate next fiscal, RBI Governor Urjit Patel has said. “Several factors are expected to help accelerate the pace of growth in 2018-19,” Patel said at IMF Committee meet on Saturday The Business Standard, New Delhi, 23rd April 2018

Sebi proposed as regulator for spot commodity exchanges for gold, metals
Govt agreeable in principle to this suggestion, though Sebi itself is not Spot commodity exchanges for gold, metals and even energy products like natural gas could see the light of day under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as the regulator. This has been recommended by a committee on the subject. It was appointed by the finance ministry under NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand. The panel also suggests the “existing institutional infrastructure of commodity exchanges may also be utilised, to the extent possible, to create a spot exchange for commodities”. Regulation for spot commodity exchanges has been a contentious issue for some years. Especially after the National Spot Exchange fiasco, where a Rs 56-billion fraud was revealed in 2013. Since 2016, the BSE exchange and Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association have proposed an online nationwide spot gold exchange. Later, commodity derivatives exchanges …