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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday told the Gujarat High Court (HC) that there was no supporting document to its June 13 press release, directing banks to  initiate insolvency proceedings against 12 non-performing assets (NPAs), including Essar Steel. The submission was made during the hearing of Essar Steel’s petition, filed on July 4, against insolvency proceedings initiated against it at the National Company Law  Tribunal (NCLT) by the State Bank of India (SBI)-led 22 banks’ consortium as well as the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). The single-judge Bench of Gujarat HC has reserved its judgment for Monday. On Thursday, it had asked the RBI to present any documents other than the press release that  supported its June 13 circular. The RBI counsel on Friday told the court that the press release was issued after a high-level committee meeting of the RBI decided to  issue the directive. Essar Steel, in its petition, has challenged the RBI’s directive as...

India is considering tracking digital currencies like bitcoin through the central bank and  capital markets regulator along with intelligence agencies to monitor money laundering and  terrorist financing, people in the know said. A federal government panel is examining options  such as banning, regulating or limited intervention for virtual currencies in India, said the  people who sought anonymity as the talks are not public. The Mint , New delhi, 15th July 2017

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre not to take any coercive steps against lawyers and  law firms for not registering or comp lying with the Central Goods and Services Tax Act,  Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, or the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, till a  clarification is issued by the governments concerned. The Bench asked the Centre to clarify  whether the services of lawyers and law firms came under the GST. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 15th July 2017

The ongoing insolvency heat has caught on in the renewable energy space with Inox Wind being put under the corporate insolvency resolution process. In a rare instance,  a Customs agent, Jeena & Company, has dragged Inox to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) over non-payment of dues totalling Rs 57 lakh. At the same time, Inox  Wind has laid off close to 400 employees at its manufacturing unit. A former employee said Inox Wind was yet to clear his final settlement, which was pending for over  four months. “The company has no cash flow whatsoever. It is not even able to fulfill its current oder," he said. With the company issuing an advertisement seeking buyers, the insolvency proceedings begin. In the absence ofabuyer the committee of creditors will formulate a restructuring plan. The code gives a company 180 days for resolution failing which either the company can get an extension for another 90 days or go in for liquidation. This comes just two mont...

The government is learnt to have ´´postponed´´a high level meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reviewing issues related to foreign direct investment (FDI)  on Friday amidabuzz that the Centre was considering relaxing FDI caps in sectors such as multibrand retail and the print media. The meeting was called to review the progress of FDI approvals across sectors after the recent abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the road map  for alternative mechanisms, as well as matters concerning foreign investors in construction and real estate,asource in the know told Business Standard. He dismissed as “speculative” any talk on FDI liberalisation in multibrand retail and media. “There´s no such proposal at this point,” he said. Since Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was with members of the Opposition ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, beginning Monday, it was decided to postpone  the FDI meeting, the source told Business S...