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India's market regulator is said to be considering more stringent rules for participatory notes as part of efforts to check the flow of black money into stock markets. Previous moves to intensify scrutiny of the instruments, which afford a greater degree of anonymity than other avenues of investment, have alarmed investors into pulling their money out or threatening to do so. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is now looking to make it mandatory to collect `know your client' (KYC) details of participatory note (P-Note) holders and is likely to take a decision to this effect at its board meeting scheduled for May 20, said people familiar with the matter. Experts said the move is likely to help hasten the eventual phasing out of participatory notes altogether. The regulator has also proposed that offshore derivative instruments (ODIs) be transferred only to subscriber entities eligible to invest in them as per Indian regulations. Sebi didn't respond to quer...

India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.3% this year, with the prospects of the South Asian region will be “contingent” on the growth trajectory of the country and Iran, according to United Nations report released on Thursday. The World Economic Situation and Prospect report, in its mid-2016 update, said, notwithstanding delays in domestic policy reforms, India’s economy is “slowly gaining momentum” and is expected to achieve a 7.5% growth in 2017. “Despite some delays in domestic policy reforms and enduring fragilities in the banking system, investment demand is supported by the monetary easing cycle, rising FDI, and government efforts towards infrastructure investments and public-private partnerships,” the report said. China, which grew at 6.9% in 2015, will continue to witness slowdown in growth, with its GDP projected to grow 6.4% in 2016 and 6.5% in 2017. “A larger- than- expected slowdown in China would have spillover effects through trade, financial and commodity mark...

The Delhi government wants all registered traders to display their certificate of registration and tax identification number (TIN) prominently outside their business places. The trade and taxes department on Tuesday issued a circular to all assistant commissioners and the ward in-charges to ensure all registered dealers prominently displayed the registration certificates. “Further, the dealer shall prominently display his TIN and ward number outside the main entrance of all places of business in Delhi,” the government circular read. “All the AC s / ward in charges are further directed to ensure strict adherence to the above directions by ensuring compliance by all dealers within their respective jurisdiction,” the order read. All traders with an annual THE GOVERNMENT ORDER turnover of over  Rs.20 lakh have to register themselves with the trade and taxes department. Sources said the effort would help the government identify unregistered traders and bring them under the tax...

To cover all listed companies; Sebi might set minimum terms Upping the corporate governance ante, capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to make dividend disclosure policy compulsory for listed companies. The move is aimed at helping ordinary shareholders understand how much dividend they can expect from a company. At present, it is not mandatory under any regulations for companies to declare dividends or to even have a policy, although a handful of companies have voluntary formulated such a policy. Sebi has no plans to force any company to pay dividends, but would set broad policy terms for companies, said sources. The regulator wants companies to disclose circumstances and financial parameters under which they can or cannot pay dividends. Also, Sebi would ask companies to state what they intend to do with their retained earnings if they don't wish to pay dividends, people with knowledge of the development said. (WHAT INDIA INC PAYS) D...

Proposed framework to progressively reduce the total exposure of banks to heavily indebted companies likely come into effect from financial year 2017-18 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday proposed to raise provisioning and risk weights for fresh loans given to highly leveraged companies. This is to discourage banks from lending to such companies, which are said to have caused a high concentration of credit risk in the banking sector. RBI said it would bring a framework to progressively reduce the total exposure of banks to such corporate entities by revising down the normal borrowing limit of a company, irrespective of the group's size. The framework will likely come into effect from financial year 2017-18. According to the framework, if the aggregate credit limit sanctioned by the banking system is more than Rs 25,000 crore at any time during financial year 2017-18, the company will be termed a special borrower. The threshold for the special borrower category woul...

Last year, 12 female undergraduate students across two institutes in Bengaluru were nominated to be part of a pilot project at Dell. These young women -from the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and RV College of Engineering -weren't necessarily class toppers, but students their institutes thought could benefit from the practical knowledge and training, something that Dell was ready to provide. Employees at Dell worked with these students on the `Girl Student Outreach Programme' over a course of 25 weeks, educating them on the skills required to work in the IT industry, encouraging them to work on networking skills and inculcating confidence in them. The participants were taken through basic programming languages and worked on a project on computing, networking and storage. Dell is just one of the companies seeking to correct a problem that's becoming more prevalent -that of dwindling numbers of women in the technology field. With not enough women opting ...

www.caonline.in News... 1.Exercise of S. 263 on expenses claim withdrawn by assessee valid. [Commissioner Of Income Tax vs.Amitabh Bachchan (SC)]. 2.The government has gained the right to tax capital gains arising in Mauritius from sale of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017. 3.Service Tax wrongly paid on the manufacturing activity is allowed to be adjusted against excise duty. [Hyva India Pvt. Ltd. vs. Comm of Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax, Bangalore-I (2016) 68 taxmann.com 383 (CESTAT)]. 4.CAs to submit PAN nos. to ICAI at http://icai.org/new_post.html?post_id=12138. For DSC latest by 14th May, 2016. 5.DVAT Regd dealers to display certificate of registration at principal place and certified copy at other places of business in Delhi. DVAT circular no: 4 of 2016-17. 6.Tax returns for A.Y.s 2009-10 to 2014-15 filled electronically under time limit of Sec.139, to be verified through ITR V Form by 31.08.16.CBDT Circular no.13/2016. For more News Like us on https:...

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Wednesday issued listing guidelines for infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs). Like real estate investment trusts ( Reits), InvITs are instrument through which investors can take exposure to income- generating infrastructure assets. According to Sebi guidelines, public issue of InvITs will require institutional investors participation of 75 per cent, while the remaining 25 per cent can be from other investors. Besides, just like an initial public offering ( IPO), InvIT may allocate up to 60 per cent of the portion available for allocation to Institutional Investors to anchor investors. For opening of subscription, the InvIT should keep a deposit worth 0.5 per cent of the amount of units offered to the public or Rs.5 crore, whichever is lower with the stock exchange, said Sebi in its guidelines. InvITs listing are expected to encourage higher foreign investment in the Indian infrastructure sector, r...

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill, enabling a single law to deal with distressed companies, their promoters, creditors, employees and other stakeholders for the first time in India. The law - which will ensure a time-bound process of winding-up a company or limited liability entity, a 'Fresh Start' for debt-laden individuals under a certain threshold and temporary transfer of management of the troubled entity into the hands of resolution professionals - was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Speaking during the debate on the Bill in the Upper House on Wednesday, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha called it a "historic legislation". "We are changing the Indian economy. We will do so while protecting the people who matter most. The way this law is being set up, it protects the workers. We are trying to create a robust safety net." The move was hailed by experts, dubbing it as an important reform measu...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cautioned banks from lending more to power distribution companies, or discoms. In a recent letter to select state-owned banks, the regulator has advised them to “exercise caution“ in giving new loans to these utilities, reminding them that “any additional exposure to discoms would result in ever-greening“ and “invite supervisory measure.“ RBI has also directed banks to categorise existing loans to discoms as non-performing assets, or bad loans, which attract provisioning. The central bank's missive would add .Rs. 1.09 lakh crore to the already large po` ol of bad loans in the banking sector.As on December 2015, gross NPAs -quantum of bad loans prior to provisioning -of listed banks crossed Rs..4 lakh crore. Banks' total credit outstanding to discoms stands at . Rs.4.37 lakh crore exposure. In November 2015, the government had launched UDAY -Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana scheme -to revive financially-ailing discoms. According to the sche...

India will file 16 cases against the US for violating WTO treaties as certain programmes of the country in the renewable energy sector are “inconsistent“ with global norms, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. “Yes,“ said Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha that “whether the government is going to file 16 cases against the US for violating WTO treaties“. India has also appealed to the WTO. India believes that certain renewable energy programmes of the US at the sub-federal level are inconsistent with WTO provisions, with respect to obligations under the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade 1994, Agreement on Subsidies and the Countervailing Measures andor Trade-Related Investment Measures. In a separate reply, she said India has appealed before the WTO appellate body on the findings and recommendations of the dispute settlement panel. To promote domestic manufacturing of solar cells and modules, which is one of the c...