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High-level panel on IBC review may stick to 270-day resolution deadline A company's assets will be liquidated after 270 days A high-level panel set up to review the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is likely to have recommended against extending a 270-day moratorium for restructuring a company after its case is admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The committee submitted its report to the government on Monday There is a demand for relaxing the moratorium since the litigation initiated by various parties comes in the way of restructuring a company and delay the process. According to IBC norms, restructuring a company has to conclude within 180 days after an insolvency case is admitted by the NCLT. This deadline can be extended by 90 days, after which no more extensions are permitted. A company's assets will be liquidated after 270 days. Sources said the committee had recommended this deadline not be relaxed. The relevance of the IBC would cease to

 IMF may revise India's fiscal deficit upwards by 0.3% of GDP in WEO report The Union government has maintained that the bank recapitalisation will be cash-neutral on its finances The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) upcoming World Economic Outlook (WEO) report may paint a less rosy picture of the government’s fiscal consolidation plan, with the ambitious public sector banks’ (PSBs’) recapitalisation exercise The Fund has written to the finance ministry that it might revise the fiscal deficit estimate upward by 0.3 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017-18, in the WEO report. The latter is due for issue next month “The India team is in touch with the authorities to gather all details of the recapitalisation bonds and still considering how to account for the operation in line with the IMF Government Finance Statistics Manual,” said Andreas Bauer, the Fund’s senior resident representative in India, in an emailed response. He added that dialogue with

 RBI to keep policy rates on hold, maintain neutral stance: Report The Reserve Bank is expected to keep policy rates on hold and maintain its neutral stance at the ensuing policy review meet early next month, says a Morgan Stanley report. According to the global financial services major, although India’s economic growth is on an uptrend, recovery remains in an early stage, and this warrants a neutral stance. “Considering the growth and inflation backdrop relative to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC’s) assessment, we expect the MPC to remain on hold and maintain its neutral stance,” Morgan Stanley said in a research note. The central bank’s next monetary policy review is scheduled for April 5. It had kept the policy rate unchanged in its February meeting on fears of inflation. Headline CPI inflation print for January-February has averaged 4.8 per cent. This is slightly weaker than the RBI’s projection of 5.1 per cent for the March quarter this year.  The Business Standard, N

Changing the Code: Boost for Home Buyers, MSMEs IBC panel: Allow MSME owners who aren’t wilful defaulters to bid, treat home buyers as creditors The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code review panel called for sweeping changes in the law aimed at easing insolvency rules for small enterprises and providing relief to home buyers by treating them as financial creditors while deeming the amount raised from them for real estate projects as financial debt. The committee proposed that promoters of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who are not wilful defaulters should be allowed to bid during the insolvency process, according to a copy of the report that ET has seen. If adopted, that would vastly improve the prospects of such companies being acquired and revived, thus saving jobs, instead of going into liquidation. In the past few weeks, ET has reported on several of the committee’s suggestions as included in the final report. MSMEs Bedrock of Economy The government plans to ge

  Niti Aayog Panel Moots Jewellery Parks, Lower Import Duty on Gold A Niti Aayog panel suggested lowering of import duty on gold, setting up of jewellery parks to encourage local manufacturing, making mining viable and “financialisation” of the metal’s holding among steps to transform India’s gold market. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 27th March 2018

Finmin to Review Performances of State-run Insurance Companies The finance ministry will soon hold a performance review meeting of all state-run insurers, including LIC. The review of general insurance companies will also set the pace for consolidation The Economic Times, New Delhi, 27th March 2018

RERA Creates a Rs10k-cr Business for Cover Firms   TITLE INSURANCE for all projects was made compulsory for builders under the Realty Act   The Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) has made it compulsory for developers to get title insurance for all projects, opening a new segment of over Rs 10,000 crore for insurance companies.   Insurance companies have so far not covered land transactions and they say the reason for missing cover is unreliable land records, which can be challenged.   After the implementation of Rera, it is mandatory for developers to provide written affidavit to the buyer stating that the legal title to the land contains legitimate documents of ownership. This policy covers buyers of property against loss and settlement costs, litigation funds arising from problems in the land title discovered after purchase. HDFC Ergo and SBI General are working on launching title insurance policy.   “As per Rera, every builder will have to buy title insurance an