Skip to main content

Company Law Board hears FTIL plea on modifying interim order

The principle bench of the Company Law Board (CLB) on Monday heard Financial Technologies (India) Ltd’s (FTIL) plea for modification of its interim order on managerial mismanagement of the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam.
The FTIL-NSEL fraud came under the scanner after the latter failed to repay its investors on commodity pair contracts after July 2013. The subsequent investigations led to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs ordering a forced merger of FTIL and NSEL, its subsidiary, on February 12 to pay back losses suffered to investors of the latter.
The government-mandated amalgamation, the first of its kind in India, has since sparked a series of challenges across various courts and tribunals. The order was challenged in the Bombay High Court, which eventually stayed its operation till June 15, pending final adjudication. In the meanwhile, the government had approached the CLB to substitute FTIL's board, for smooth functioning of the amalgamation process. Upon hearing the preliminary submissions, the chairman of the CLB passed an ad-interim order on June 30, 2015 freezing FTIL's assets to avoid siphoning off until a final order was passed on the application made by the government. The June 30 CLB order was subsequently challenged by FTIL in the Madras High Court, which issued temporary relief to the company by staying the ad-interim order, while directing swift disposal of the issue by the CLB.
The stay was challenged by the government in the Supreme Court, which on April 18 reversed the Madras High Court order.
In Monday’s hearing, Abhishek Singhvi, counsel for FTIL, said restricting transactions of movable assets had crippled the firm’s ability to transact on investments, leading to large losses to its portfolio.
Business Standard New Delhi, 24th May 2016

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Govt’s gamble on GST cuts: What do the bond and currency markets signal?

  It’s not just humans who suffer from cognitive biases; markets do too. Interestingly, different financial markets exhibit distinct biases, each interpreting events through its own prism of prejudice. Take the recent announcements on GST reforms: equity markets have chosen to view them through the lens of growth, while bond and currency markets are focusing on potential macroeconomic risks—fiscal pressures and current account challenges. So, which lens captures the true pulse?Equity markets may be right in expecting GST reforms to revive consumption, which has remained lacklustre for a while. But the key question remains—will this revival come at the cost of broader macro stability?It is well known that consumption stocks have rallied since the GST rationalisation announcement. But what about bond markets? What signals are they sending since this rejig was announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort?The signs aren't encouraging. Bond prices have slumped and yields have surged sinc...

Luxury carmakers urge clarity on GST rates to boost festive season sales

  A clear picture regarding new GST rates at the earliest will help the overall auto industry, including the luxury car segment, to regain momentum in the ongoing quarter, which generally sees enhanced sales on account of the festive season.The high-powered GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on September 3-4 to discuss moving to a two-slab taxation.In an interaction with PTI, BMW Group India President and CEO Hardeep Singh Brar said the recent speculation about the change in GST rates has caused uncertainty in the minds of consumers.Consumer interest and demand is strong, but they (prospective buyers) have adopted a wait-and-watch approach, and this delayed decision-making is impacting new vehicle sales at a certain level, he noted."Expediting clarity on GST rates is essential to get back to speed and ensure the auto sector's contribution to economic growth during this quarter is robust," Brar stated.He also hoped that the sustainable p...

Sebi proposes tighter norms for green bond third-party reviewers

  Sebi on Friday said it has proposed to tighten the norms to appoint independent third-party reviewers or certifiers for green debt securities to align them with requirements for other ESG-linked bonds.In a draft circular, Sebi said that the current norms for green bonds, introduced in February 2023, lack detailed requirements around reviewer independence, conflict of interest mitigation, and disclosure standards that are now in place for other ESG-linked securities under a June 2025 circular.The regulator's latest proposal seeks public comments on a revised framework that would bring parity by incorporating comprehensive criteria for third-party certifiers of green bonds on non-convertible securities.Under the proposed norms, issuers of green debt securities will need to appoint reviewers who are independent of their management, directors, and key managerial personnel. These reviewers will be remunerated in a way that prevents any conflicts of interest and possess relevant expert...