1st NUJS CFLS Competition

The CFLS is proud to announce the first of its kind competition at NUJS, the 1st NUJS Corporate And Fiscal Laws Competition. The competition is held by CFLS in association with PXV Law Partners.

The competition is a hypothetical problem prepared by certain members of the society. The task at hand is to identify the potential issues, risk areas, etc.. The problem and the rules of the competition are provided here and here.

PRIZES!! 

Up for grabs are 2 (two) internships at the Bangalore and the Mumbai offices of PXV Law Partners. In addition to the same, the top 3 entries also get cash prizes of INR 2500, 1500, 1000 respectively.

Please read the instructions and rules carefully. Do write to us at corpfiscnujs@gmail.com in case of any queries.

SEBI to bring in E-IPOs

The Securities Exchange and Board of India, the capital market regulator has decided to introduce electronic Initial Public Offerings [‘IPO’] from January 1, 2013.  Such a decision was taken so as to increase the reach of distribution of the IPOs.  Electronic IPO is a mechanism through which investments in the public offering can be done without any physical paperwork. E-IPO ensures a quick and efficient way to reach the widest possible investors.  This mechanism will also help the investors to check the status of their issue applications on the websites of the Stock Exchanges.

Service tax on railway travel!

Travelling across the country in trains has become more expensive in compliance with the Finance Bill, 2012 and notifications by the Finance Ministry. The hike in fare is owing to the imposition of service tax on railway passenger, starting October 1, 2012. This hike has been imposed in the following classes:

(i) AC First Class,

(ii) Executive Class,

(iii) AC-2 tier Class,

(iv) AC-3 tier class,

(v) AC Chair Car class,

(vi) AC Economy class and

(vii) First Class.

Service tax on transport of goods by rail

The Government of India has implemented the service tax levy of 3.7% on transport of goods by rail, which is effective from October 1, 2012. This was introduced by the Finance Bill 2010 and was originally planned to be implemented on April 1, 2010, but was deferred by repeated notifications. However, in order to raise its revenue and plug the fiscal deficit (see here), the government has finally released a circular on September 26, 2012, imposing service tax on railway freight.

Customs self-assessment regime introduced

The budget 2011-12 which introduced significant customs related changes also brought about one significant change relating to the assessment of goods under the Customs Act, 1962. The new Section 17 of the Customs Act mandates self-assessment of goods which may be re-assessed by the department for correctness of classification in doubtful cases. This re-assessment shall be done selectively on the basis of the Risk Management Model/System (RMS) targeting mainly the high-risk consignments. The provision for provisional assessment has however, been retained with certain consequential modifications. It must be also noted that the importers or exporters, as the case may be, must at the time of presenting the Bill of Entry, make a declaration about the correctness of the statements regarding the classification and applicable rate of duty, its value, benefit of exemption under Notifications etc.

RBI allows ECB for MFIs

The RBI has recently issued a notification considering the specific needs of the micro finance sector, allowing the MFIs to raise ECB up to USD 10 million or equivalent during a financial year for permitted end-uses, under the Automatic Route.

This notification issued by the RBI in December 2011 can be seen as a welcome change for the Micro Financing institutions and the NGOs engaged in such activities.

Read further to know about the guidelines issued on external commercial borrowing by MFIs by Reserve Bank of India. You can see the notification here.

Regulation of IPOs by SEBI-Some recent developments

There have been a string of developments in the field of IPOs, overseen by the SEBI. In fact, more focussed regulations has been an agenda of the SEBI for some time now. The SEBI had already set up an expert group to examine the entire IPO process. The SEBI has deemed the current regulations as not being investor friendly, and has therefore agreed to change the format, and to bring down the pages of the document. The SEBI is also attempting to bring in an e-IPO process, which would be paperless, and would make the bidding process faster.

But the last few days have seen a flurry of activity relating to IPOs and regulation by the SEBI.

Qualified Foreign Investors allowed to invest in Indian equity markets

India has been facing a bearish run in terms of foreign investment in its capital markets. The poorly performing market has churned out astonishingly bad results in the past year. So much so that it reportedly prompted a net outflow of almost USD 380 Million in foreign investment in 2011.

To overturn this dismal trend, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India announced on January 1, 2012 in a press release, that it had decided to allow Qualified Foreign Investors [‘’QFIs’] to invest directly in the Indian equity market. This is a welcome initiative that should go a long way in dispelling the gloom that has gripped the Sensex.  This is the second measure taken in 2011 to increase foreign activity in Indian capital markets. The first was in August when QFIs were permitted direct access to Indian mutual fund schemes.