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Proposed PPF changes to benefit investors  The finance ministry in a notification has stated that "no existing benefits to depositors are proposed to be taken away" and has clarified on the proposed changes to the Public Provident Fund (PPF):  1. The Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and the Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 are proposed to be merged with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873. "The main objective in proposing a common Act is to make implementation easier for the depositors as they need not go through different rules and Acts for understanding the provision of various SSS (small savings schemes), and also to introduce certain flexibilities for the investors," says the notification.   2. The government proposes to allow premature closure of PPF accounts. In a statement, the finance ministry said that in case of exigencies, such as medical emergencies or higher education needs, PPF accounts will now be allowed to be closed prematurely. C

SEBI opens new door for overseas investors  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has opened up the Indian capital markets to clients of global private banks, which can invest in stocks without having to go through registration or compliance requirements. Until now, foreign banks were allowed to do propriety trades only. However, now they have been allowed to invest in domestic securities on behalf of their clients. Sebi announced the move last week inacircular titled Easing of access norms for investment by foreign portfolio investors. Experts say the new measure, which resembles the participatory note (pnote) framework, could beagame changer. Also, this route will provide more flexibility to investors compared to pnotes, as they will be able to take unhedged exposure to Indian derivatives market. Sebi´s latest move isadeparture from the regulator´s efforts in the past few years to encourage direct participation. All bigticket pnote issuing entities are owned by

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