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In its annual report, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said the efficacy of the monetary policy transmission mechanism needs to improve, as the pass- through of recent cuts in policy rate to the bank lending rate has only been partial. Though RBI has cut the repo rate ( at which banks borrow from the central bank) by 75 basis points since the beginning of this year, banks have been reluctant to reduce lending rates. According to RBI, the partial transmission reflects constraints under the existing base rate system. “ Identifying the impediments in passthrough and implementing an alternative method such as marginal cost- based credit pricing or identifying an appropriate benchmark for the bank lending rate will be apriority for the Reserve Bank,” the central bank said. The report also stressed how it was crucial to develop market- based benchmarks by developing the term segment of the money market. “Liquidity support may have to be progressively provided through regular auction...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has reconstituted its Takeover Panel, which looks into applications seeking exemption from the mandatory open offer that an acquirer needs to make to minority shareholders. The newly notified panel would be chaired by judge N K Sodhi, former chief justice of the high courts of Karnataka and Kerala and also the former presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal. Business Standard, New Delhi,28th August 2015

The Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) has notified the procedure for financial institutions to register and submit information under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), under which the US and India would get automatic exchange of information on tax evaders from September 30. However, the procedures notified on August 25 came just ahead of the due date of filing information under FATCA by August 31. The procedure says the reporting financial institutions will have to register with the Income- Tax department by logging in to e- filing site with log- in ID used to file online returns in general. A link to register reporting financial institution has been provided under "My Account". The financial institution is required to submit details on the screen. A reporting financial institution may register different registration information under different reporting financial institution categories. Once the financial institution gets registered, it is required to ...

The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) has doubled the limit for cash withdrawal at point- of- sale ( POS) in Tier III to VI centres from Rs.1000 to Rs.2000 a day. This will be available for debit cards and open system prepaid cards issued only by banks. RBI said the enhanced amount will add to customer convenience and aid re- cycling of cash in these centres. Business Standard, New Delhi, 28th August 2015

In the second round of clarifications on the unaccounted money law next week, the government is likely to ask those holding such funds to make disclosures based on their income expectations from foreign bank accounts more than 10 years old, in case of unavailability of records. This will be part of about two dozen frequently asked questions ( FAQs) the Department of Revenue will issue on the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Act, popularly known as the black money Act, as well as on a three- month compliance window under the law. “We are almost ready with the second set of FAQs and will be releasing that within the next four- five days. We were delayed, as we will be addressing more queries that came up based on an interaction session in Mumbai on Wednesday,” said a government official. Many people have enquired about the unavailability of old records with the foreign banks. On this, the official said, “ On the unavailability of old information, we cannot do anything much o...

1.  CBDT enables e-Filing of form No. 61B relating to statement of reportable account u/s 285BA(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 has been enabled for “Registration” and “Submission of nil statement”. 2.  Changes in Singapore's Companies Act exempts private limited companies from audit requirements. 3.  The Supreme Court, on 25 August, 2015, has held that cash discount is deductible from transaction value under new Section 4 of Central Excise Act, 1944 also as amended in the year 2000. [Purolator India Ltd. vs. CCE] 4.  SEBI issues guidance note on Insider Trading Regulations, 2015; Clarifies that exercise of ESOPs shall not be considered to be “Trading” except for the purposes of Chapter III (relating to ‘disclosure of trading by insiders’). 5.  DVAT Authorities have notified the Delhi Value Added Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2015 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Delhi Gazette. 6.  Empanelment of Members to Act as obser...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Wednesday proposed exemption from making an open offer for entities whose shareholding in a listed company increases due to forfeiture of shares. Currently, there is no provision for exemptions under the takeover regulations in case of increase in the voting rights of a shareholder due to the expiry of call notice period and forfeiture of partly paid- up shares. Under the new norms, Sebi has proposed "for providing general exemption from the open offer obligations in the cases of increase in voting rights as a result of the expiry of call notice period and the forfeiture of shares in line with general exemptions available with respect to rights issues, buybacks, etc". Business Standard, New Delhi, 27 August 2015

Central trade union leaders on Wednesday refused to withdraw their nationwide strike call for September 2 to protest against proposed labour reforms, after their meeting with a group of ministers (GoM) failed to make any headway. The GoM, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, will meet the union leaders again on Thursday to break the logjam and deliberate on their demands, senior labour ministry officials told HT. The 12-point charter of demands include urgent measures for containing price rise through universalisation of the public distribution system (PDS), ban on speculative trade in the commodity market, strict enforcement of basic labour laws without any exemption or exception, and stringent punitive measures for violation of labour laws, among others. “There are 7-8 demands, which are agreeable and the discussion is an ongoing process….the government is positive about the demands (of labour unions). The meeting will continue tomorrow,” labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya said ...

CBEC says Sebi liable to pay as its services are not exempted from taxation Foreign portfolio investors, or FPIs, may have gotten off the taxman's hook on the issue of minimum alternate tax, but their regulator isn't going to be as lucky if the tax authorities have their way . The Central Board of Excise & Customs has backed the view of the tax authorities that the Securities & Exchange Board of India is liable to cough up service tax, in what will be seen as an odd spectacle of a regulator being asked to stump up money . In a clarification to a report put up before it by field officers, the government's apex indirect taxes body has given the go-ahead for a formal investigation in the matter, in the process backing the view that because services provided by the stock market regulator were not specifically exempted from taxation or kept in the negative list, they were liable to be taxed. Service tax officials will now closely examine Sebi's books to ascertain it...

The government expects the number of disclosures on unaccounted overseas wealth under the black money window to go up in the last few weeks of the compliance period, which ends on September 30, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. Business Standard, New Delhi, 27 August 2015

BSE proposes to market regulator the counters be dropped off; NSE also in talks The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering delisting companies suspended on exchanges for more than five years, a source said. In a representation to Sebi recently, the BSE ( formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) proposed counters that had been suspended for seven years be delisted. The National Stock Exchange ( NSE), which has close to 170 suspended companies, is also in talks with Sebi. “Sebi has received the BSE’s proposal and is favourably considering it,” said a source. An email to Sebi did not get a response. “ We have made a representation to the regulator,” said an NSE spokesperson. “A suspended company that does not intend to remain listed cannot go through the reverse book- building exercise for delisting. There is a need for them to be exempted,” said asource. A merchant banker said Sebi had informally started allowing suspended companies to delist. “ If I approach Sebi with a pr...