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Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday said commodity derivatives exchanges having annual turnover of more than Rs5 trillion in previous financial year will be considered as systemically important financial market infrastructures (FMIs). Currently, all commodity exchanges themselves are clearing and settling trade executed on their platforms. They are acting as central counterparties (CCP) in these markets. FMIs are required to comply with the principles of financial market infrastructures (PFMIs) specified by IOSCO (International Organisation of Securities Commissions). The PFMIs comprise 24 rules for providing effective regulation, supervision and oversight to financial market infrastructures. They are designed to ensure that the infrastructure supporting global financial markets is robust and well placed to withstand financial shocks. In a circular, Sebi said that it “has been decided that commodity derivatives exchanges (currentl...

Reaching out to whistleblowers to curb the black money menace, the government on Friday unveiled an e-mail address to allow people to send information about tax evaders. The government also notified the disclosure scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), a three-and-a-half-month window opening on Saturday (till March 31, 2017), to declare income by paying 50 per cent tax and lock in a quarter of the deposits for four years. The e-mail ID, blackmoneyinfo@incometax.gov.in, will be monitored by a cell, which will take immediate action on the tip-offs they receive. “A new e-mail ID created for people to give information on black money to tax authorities. People can give information about those trying to convert black money into white on this e-mail address,” said Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia after the notification of PMGKY. Payments under PMGKY will have to be made before filing a declaration. Unlike under Income Declaration Scheme, which ended on September 30 whe...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday instructed banks and other prepaid instrument service providers not to charge any fee, till March 31, 2017 for transactions charges up to Rs 1,000 using Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), USSD-based *99# and Unified Payment Interface (UPI) systems. The temporary measures have been taken in view of the scrapping of old currency notes and to “incentivise greater adoption of digital payments by large sections of the society,” RBI said in its notification. The measures will be effective January 1, 2017. “In the intervening period, the Reserve Bank of India will facilitate a review of the charges under the aforesaid channels by the concerned stakeholders,” the RBI notification stated. Business Standard New Delhi,17th December 2016

The Parliament has given its nod to a bill that seeks to further empower tax authorities to crack down on black money, a government official confirmed on Thursday. It will also pave the way for the government to notify its income tax disclosure scheme, giving tax evaders another opportunity to come clean but by paying higher taxes and penalties. The scheme is likely to end on 30 December. The Taxation Laws (2nd Amendment) Bill 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29 November and was subsequently sent to the Rajya Sabha for its nod. But with the upper house failing to take up this money bill after more than 14 days, the bill is now presumed to be passed by both houses of Parliament. It will be notified by the revenue department in the ministry of finance after the President gives his assent. “Because 14 days are over since the Lok Sabha passed the bill, the revenue department will now notify it,” a senior finance ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Constitut...

The labour ministry is pitching for retaining 8.8 percentage intrest rate on employees' provident fund(EPF) deposists of over 40 million subscibers of the retainment fund body the Employees'provident Fund organisation for 2016-17 and trying to bring the finance ministry on board. The finance ministry had earlier this year decided to lower intereston EPF for 2015-16 to 8.7 percent from the 8.8 percent approved by EPFO'S apex decision making body,the central board of trustees (CBT)which is headed by tje labour minister.The govenment had to roll back the decision. Business Standard New Delhi,16th December 2016

With the government focusing on cashless transactions post demonetisation, a bill seeking to allow business and industrial establishments to pay salaries through cheques or by using electronic means, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Once passed by the Parliament, The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2016 will amend Section 6 of the principal Act to enable employers to pay wages to their employees through cheques or by crediting it to their bank accounts electronically. The Bill was introduced by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya amid din over demonetisation issue. Business Standard New Delhi,16th December 2016

As the Narendra Modi government wages its biggest war on black money yet, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian today pitched for including land and real estate under the GST regime to check money laundering and corruption. Subramanian, who for the finance ministry had authored a report on possible tax rates under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), suggested that the new indirect tax set-up should be clean with simple low rates and should include land and property as well as electricity. Buisness Standard New Delhi,16th December 2016

In a bid to tackle cybercrime, the central government is planning to review the Information Technology Act. A technology infrastructure audit of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), for possible holes that could be exploited by cyber criminals, is also on the government's action plan. The government, which plans to strengthen the computer emergency response team or CERT-In with ethical hackers who would respond to cyberattacks across the country, has directed digital payment agencies to report to CERT-in if any unusual activity is discovered on their platforms. The IT ministry has approved setting up of CERTs in 5 states and creating 26 new posts in CERT-In. "All digital payments agencies have been asked to report to CERT-In any unusual activity on their platforms. We are taking several measures to ensure a resilient system. We will audit the IT infrastructure of NPCI and have formed crack teams at CERT-In for immediate response," Union Information...

India Inc is facing tax uncertainty on account of a slew of taxation changes kicking in from the next financial year to plug leakages and discourage treaty abuse but without much clarity. With barely three months to go for the current financial year to end, the government is yet to release a guidance note or final rules of general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) and place of effective management (PoEM), which tax consultants argue the government could defer implementation by at least a year to prevent avoidable litigation. In fact, the new accounting standard for large companies, IndAS, was implemented from the current financial year, but final rules are still awaited. “Companies are in the dark and grappling with a bit of tax uncertainty. We have asked them to opt for guidance available as of now. There is no finality on issues like GAAR and PoEM. Guidance note on country-by-country reporting (CBCR) under base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) are expected, but have not come out yet....

The Cabinet on Wednesday has approved the proposal of Ministry of Shipping to replace the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 by the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016. This will help major ports to perform with greater efficiency as they will get full autonomy in decision making. “With a view to promote the expansion of port infrastructure and facilitate trade and commerce, the proposed Bill aims at decentralising decision making and to infuse professionalism in governance of ports,” a government statement said. The new Major Ports Authority Bill, 2016 would help in faster and transparent decision making benefiting the stakeholders and better project execution capability, it said. The Bill is aimed at reorienting the governance model in central ports to landlord port model in line with the successful global practice. This will also help in bringing transparency in operations of Major Ports. The new Bill is compact in comparison with the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 as the number of ...

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as the Trump administration takes over with promises to boost growth through tax cuts, spending and deregulation. The rate increase, regarded as a virtual certainty by financial markets in the wake of a string of generally strong economic reports, raised the target federal funds rate 25 basis points to between 0.50 percent and 0.75 percent. "In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the committee decided to raise the target range," the central bank's policy-setting committee said in its unanimous statement after a two-day meeting. "Job gains have been solid in recent months and the unemployment rate has declined," the Fed said, noting that market-based measures of inflation compensation had moved up "considerably." More significant was a fresh batch of Fed policymaker forecasts that indic...