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Markets regulator Sebi today issued a new framework for functioning of stock exchanges and clearing corporations that are setting up their operations in international financial services centres (IFSCs). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said all categories of exchange-traded products currently available for trading in stock exchanges will be eligible for trading in bourses operating in IFSCs. However, this is subject to prior approval of the market watchdog. Only non-agri commodity derivatives will be eligible for trading. Masala bonds too qualify provided such bonds are listed. These exchange-traded products and masala bonds should be compliant with IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions) and FATF (Financial Action Task Force) norms. Sebi, in March 2015, had issued a detailed set of guidelines for establishing IFSCs as part of its efforts for setting up financial hubs in the country. The first such centre has been set up in Gujarat's GIFT City...

Revenue Secy said I-T Dept wouldn't ask for source of funds deposited in banks from Nov 10, if entire income is declared and 50% taxes are paid  The government on Monday unveiled yet another disclosure scheme for deposits made till December 30 and proposed amendments in the Income-Tax Act, proposing harsher penalty for evaders.  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced a Bill to this effect in Parliament on Monday. This is the third income disclosure scheme introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the past two years.  The latest disclosure scheme - Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana - will allow those depositing money in banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to enjoy immunity from certain taxation laws by paying a 50% tax on the undisclosed income. However, the declarants will have to deposit a fourth of the undisclosed income with a four-year lock-in.  “The scheme will be notified after the Bill is passed by Parliament. A fourth of the total declared...

Scrambling to manage liquidity, lenders want compensation to tide over the crisis  Upset by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to charge the entire deposits that banks collected between September 16 and November 11 as a reserve requirement, bankers have said they would not be able to cut lending rates as much as was expected of them. Banks would now be scrambling to manage enough liquidity for their healthy functioning even as the general public continues to pour in deposits of old high-value notes and the restriction of cash withdrawal prevents adequate outflow of the money deposited. In a surprise announcement on Friday, RBI had said an incremental cash reserve ratio (CRR) of 100% would need to be maintained on deposits collected during the period mentioned above. Under normal circumstances, CRR is only four% of deposits. Banks don’t earn any interest on CRR. Sensing a liquidity shortage, RBI on Monday conducted an unprecedented level of liquidity infusion to the tune of...

Pay 30% tax, 33% cess & 10% penalty to come clean, else brace for 85% penal charge Trump Alleges That ‘Millions of People’ Voted Illegally New Delhi: The government is providing yet another opportunity for people with black money to come clean at a total cost of 50% and having a quarter of their unaccounted wealth locked up for four years, warning that they’ll be slapped with a penal 85% charge if they don’t take advantage of this and get caught subsequently. Income-tax law amendments have been moved to enable the window, which will involve the establishment of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016, and allowing declarants to keep the source of funds deposited in banks from November 10 a secret if they use the option. PM Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of .? 500 and .? 1,000 notes on November 8 as part of a campaign against black money, counterfeiting, corruption and terror financing. Banks started accepting deposits in old notes from November 10. “Tax depart...