CA Online

The Reserve Bank of India board meeting on November 19 may decide to set up a high-level committee to decide on its capital framework, among the key reasons for the conflict between the regulator and the Centre, said several people familiar with the matter, downplaying expectations of a showdown.  The possibility of the board giving any direction with regard to the actual transfer of RBI reserves to the government looks remote as the RBI Act does not permit this, they said. “The board can lay down rules but cannot decide on a case-to-case basis,” said former financial services secretary DK Mittal, adding that the rules regarding the quantum of reserves to be held had been decided by the board. “The board has to take a balanced stand now. Both the government and RBI should behave responsibly.” Mittal was a member of the board by virtue of his position. The reserves are meant for unforeseen contingencies, including depreciation in the value of securities, risks arising from exc...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering a proposal to tighten rules for liquid mutual funds holding assets worth ?8 lakh crore or more to curb volatility in flows following the challenges facing finance companies in the wake of the debt default by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).  The capital market regulator is planning a short lock-in period for investments in liquid funds, in which investors — mostly large companies — park idle cash. Sebi may also make it mandatory for liquid funds to mark to market the value of more bonds and allow segregation of debt instruments in mutual fund portfolios that are in trouble, said three people aware of the development. These measures are likely to be discussed at the Sebi-appointed mutual fund advisory committee meeting on Monday.  A lock-in period, aimed at reducing volatility in flows, could reduce the popularity of the product among institutional investors, experts said.  Mos...

More than eight years after successfully launching the Aadhaar project, India’s unique identity authority (UIDAI) is looking at effecting a major “operational shift” from enrolment to large-scale data updates in order to ensure the long-term success of the scheme, according to an official note by the authority.  Set up in 2009 through a government notification, UIDAI has been generating the 12-digit unique identity number, called Aadhaar, since 2010.  As on September 30, more than 1.12 billion Aadhaar numbers have been generated. As per UIDAI data, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh and Telangana have more than 100% saturation till October 31, while Sikkim has the lowest saturation at 87%. Hundred per cent saturation means the entire population of a city has been covered in terms of Aadhaar enrolment. It exceeds 100% when there is a migrant population availing of the service. “In these states, UIDAI needs to undertake an operational shift fro...