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I ndia may Face Pressure to Cut Duties on 90% of Goods Traded with China India is likely to face greater pressure to eliminate duties on 90% of goods it trades with China under the mega trade agreement among 16 Asia Pacific countries that is in the works. Officials said that China, which has till now not aggressively pushed to fast track negotiations in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has shown a new keenness to “engage actively” ahead of the next round of talks later this week, the first after it its trade standoff with the US. The talks are scheduled for April 28- May 8 in Singapore. “The current situation can influence our negotiations. China looks keen to engage actively,” said a government official. Beijing’s sudden interest in the closure of the RCEP is fuelled by Washington’s renewed interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, another mega regional trade partnership. Incidentally, seven countries-Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia

LTCG tax: No STT likely on employee stock options plans, inherited shares Listed shares received through family succession or will of the deceased and acquired till January 31 will not attract STT The income-tax (IT) department has proposed to exempt employee stock options plans (ESOPs) given till January 31, 2018, from the securities transaction tax (STT), while availing the benefits of grandfathering and threshold exemption in long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax at 10 per cent. Also, listed shares received through family succession or will of the deceased and acquired till January 31 will not attract STT. The department has sought comments on these proposals by April 30. There have been queries on whether the 10 per cent LTCG tax will be applicable if STT was not paid at the time of acquiring certain off-market transactions or whether these assessees will have to pay LTCG tax under different provisions where certain concessions were not available. The new tax is imposed un

Trading through mobile app may need eye sacn :SEBI With the aim to enhance cyber security, market regulator SEBI is looking to put in place a new set of guidelines, wherein fingerprint or eye-scan will be required for stock trading through mobile applications. The market watchdog has sought comments from the market participants such as brokers, traders and stock exchanges in this regard, and a final regulation will be put in place after taking into account views of all the stakeholders, regulatory sources said. In case of applications installed on smartphones and tablets, traders and retail investors may need biometric authentication to buy and sell stocks, according to the SEBI proposal. The Business Line, New Delhi, 24th April 2018

Sebi's circular naming defaulters draws flak; companies approach FinMin The list featured some prominent names like SBI Capital, Axis Capital, GMR Holdings, United Breweries, Alpic Finance, Saradha Realty, United Bank of India &Trident India Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is once again caught on the wrong foot, and this time for one of its recent circulars that made public names of over 2,000 entities, which have defaulted on its dues Some of the companies named in the list have raised objections with the finance ministry, stating that the list was erroneous, said sources aware of the development.  The regulator had pulled out the circular dated 2 April within hours without any explanation. But, the uncertainty and confusion among market players, triggered by the list, lingered. The list featured some prominent names like SBI Capital, Axis Capital, GMR Holdings, United Breweries, Alpic Finance (a Cipla group unit), Saradha Realty, Unite

  Homebuyers, MSMEs may Get IBC Relief Govt plans ordinance to ease disqualifications under Section 29A, clarify definition of a related party The government could soon promulgate an ordinance to make changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code that will provide relief to small businesses and homebuyers, relax disqualifications under Section 29A and clarify the definition of a related party. The changes are based on the recommendations of a high-level law committee chaired by Injeti Srinivas, secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs. The Union Cabinet could consider the ordinance as early as Wednesday, according to a senior government official. The decree will empower the central government to modify or exempt medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) from various provisions of the code including Section 29A, which bars those with non-performing loans from bidding under the resolution process. Barring wilful defaulters, Section 29A will not be applicable to resolution ap

  Banks told to Shell Out Tax on ‘Free Services’ to Customers I-T dept to levy tax on services provided to users maintaining minimum a/c balance The tax department has asked country’s top lenders including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to pay tax that could run into thousands of crores, on ‘free services’ provided to customers maintaining a minimum account balance, with retrospective effect. Show cause notices have been issued by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGST) and is likely to be made on other banks as well. The tax will be levied for the last five years, the period for which past service tax cases can be opened, said a senior official aware of the details. The tax is being calculated after taking into account charges recovered by banks from customers who do not maintain a minimum account balance. This per account charge, for those who keep a minimum balance, is being considered as the dee

  RBI clampdown puts cryptocurrency traders, exchanges in a spot RBI’s decision, which was aimed largely at protecting interests of consumers, caused panic selling among crypto investors, traders in India The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent crackdown on cryptocurrencies has left investors, traders, and crypto exchanges in a fix, prompting them to tap alternative means to convert their cryptocurrency into rupees and exposing them to the risk of losing their holdings, experts said. RBI recently put out a circular forbidding entities it regulates from dealing with cryptocurrencies. Banks were given three months to settle all outstanding payments to crypto exchanges in India While RBI’s decision was aimed largely at protecting the interests of consumers, the directive caused panic selling among crypto investors and traders in India. Exchanges in the country started exploring opportunities to register outside India to carry on trading. Nischal Shetty, chief executive of crypt