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MSCI slams move by Indian exchanges Ending data feed pacts with global counterparts´ anticompletive´, could cause disruption and lead to a cut inIndia´sweighton global indices, says MSCI Global index provider MSCI has slammed Indian exchanges´ decision to terminate licensing and datafeed agreements with their global counterparts.MSCI has said the concerted announcement by the three domestic exchanges was “anticompletive” and would restrict access to the Indian market. It has urged Indian regulators and exchanges to reconsider the move as it could lead to disruption in trading, which could force MSCI to cut India´s weight in its global indices.On February 9, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE —India´s two main exchanges —said inajoint release that they were discontinuing their datafeed tieups with foreign exchanges to prevent offshore trading in domestic securities. The move would come into effect after the contractual notice periods expire in August.“It isaclearly n

CBEC decides not to file review appeals in 63 cases To reduce litigation, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on Friday decided not to file any review appeals in 63 cases where Supreme Court, high courts and CESTAT have ruled against the department. The CBEC has compiledalist of 63 orders so that cases pending in the field can be expeditiously decided, if the questions of law or facts involved are identical, an official statement said. In 14 of these orders, high courts have decided various questions of law. In the rest 49 cases, the high courts have delivered judgments on the basis of some settled case law or have decided points of facts or have dismissed the appeal on monetary grounds. All the orders have been accepted by the department and against them no special leave petitions in India has been preferred in the Supreme Court, it added. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 17th February 2018

Sebi relaxes access norms for FPIs The Securities and Exchange Board of India( Se bi) has eased the norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), doing away with the prior-approval requirement in case of change in local custodian. The due diligence requirements at the time of change of custodian for FPI shave also been relaxed. After consultations with stakeholders, Sebi has decided to make changes in ext ant regulatory provisions" to ease the access norms for investment by FPIs", acircular issued on Thursday said. The need for seeking prior approval in case of change in local custodian or Designated Depository Participant( D DP) has been discontinued for FP Is. "Atthattime, taking specific request letter from each FPI regarding change of local custodian may create operational and logistical challenges," Sebi said as it relaxed the norms. With respect to the process of change of local custodian or DDP by an FPI, the circular said the new entity can rely on t

Govt may raise import duties on edible oils and chana may go up The duties might be pushed up to 300 per cent in case of palm and other edible oils and 100 per cent in chana. The Centre would not hesitate to raise import duties on edible oils and chana up to their “bound rates” applicable under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to protect farmers, senior government officials said. The duties might be pushed up to 300 per cent in case of palm and other edible oils and 100 per cent in chana. The import duty on crude edible oils now is 25-30 per cent. In the case of refined oils, it is 35-40 per cent. For chana, it is 40 per cent. If the proposal goes through, there could be a massive hike in import duty (over 200 per cent in case of edible oils), while it could go up by 60 per cent in chana. The bound rate for soybean oil is 45 per cent and the existing is 30 per cent. Bound rates are the maximum permissible ones under WTO agreements. The thinking within a section of the

TRAI sets non-predatory tariff rules for old tel cos Orders Rs 5 mn penalty per circle for any violation Defining the concept of non-discrimination and nonpredation, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday said it would impose a penalty to the tune of ~5 million per circle on any telecom operator found to be involved in offering predatory tariffs. Trai’s new rules suggest a tariff can be considered predatory if a significant market player (SMP) offers services at a price which is below the average variable cost in a “relevant market” with a view to reducing competition or eliminate competitors. SMP is a service provider holding a share of at least 30 per cent in a relevant market, which should be defined based on any of the two parameters — subscriber base and gross revenue. It would mean incumbent operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular cannot offer tariffs below their average variable cost as they are SMPs in many markets, Trai sources s