The government is drawing up a relief package for industry with steps such as relaxation of asset-classification norms by banks, thus allowing companies to delay the repayment of loans, and tax holidays for the worst-hit sectors like aviation and hospitality. But it might not be enough to stop more bankruptcies from getting filed.
Byju's Founder Byju Raveendran's plea against the Insolvency of Think & Learn before the NCLAT was adjourned on Monday as one of the members of the bench recused from the hearing. The matter will be placed before a bench headed by National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan, who will assign a different bench to hear the matter. Raveendran had filed a petition challenging the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Think & Learn, which runs edtech company Byju's.
The total admitted claim of financial creditors of these 88 companies stood at Rs 1.3 trillion, of which they recovered Rs 65,635 crore.
In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) verdict that had stopped insolvency proceedings against embattled ed-tech firm Byju's. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also reversed the order of the NCLAT approving Byju's Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and directed the cricket board to deposit the settlement amount of Rs 158.9 crore with a committee of creditors.
Insolvency professionals feel the bankruptcy code will deter defaulters, but NPAs will not cease unless banks are sensitised on credit appraisal and experts are hired by banks to inspect what is happening with their loans.
In what could result in a complete overhaul of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the insolvency regulator has sought public comments on the regulations it notified under the code to date. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has given a window of eight months ending December 31 to all stakeholders to share their views on its regulations. IBBI has called the exercise "crowdsourcing of ideas".
The successful implementation of the new Act will depend on a much bigger involvement of the state through a huge new superstructure of registration, certification and supervision
Larger firms feel that the smaller players have muddied the waters for the IBC process, leading to excessive regulation of resolution Professionals.
Around Rs 1 trillion, or a fifth of the investments made by alternative investment funds (AIFs) are questionable in terms of the intent behind the investments and are under the scanner for circumvention of regulations, said Ananth Narayan, whole-time member of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). AIFs are pooled investment vehicles that invest in a variety of assets including real estate, startups, unlisted companies, and derivative strategies in the listed space.
The Insolvencies and Companies Court of London high court on Monday declared fugitive business baron Vijay Mallya a bankrupt person as per UK laws. Legal experts explain what this means for 65-year old Mallya's personal liberties, his legal battle against extradition to India to face trial, and for the consortium of Indian lenders - at whose behest the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated in the UK courts.
Some experts says that the high net-worth requirement of Rs 50 crore for setting up an IU is a deterrent.
The government is contemplating changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to deal with environmental claims and liabilities of defaulting companies to make the law future-ready and meet climate action goals, sources told Business Standard. Currently, the IBC has various categories of claims and creditors, including those related to environmental liabilities.
In insolvency proceedings, Ericsson will be treated as only an operational creditor and may end up losing the Rs 550 crore
IBC has been revolutionary in many ways and is a formidable instrument for stress resolution. And despite the room for improvement, the overall effectiveness of IBC in the distress space is unmatched, notes Saloni Kothari.
So far, among the IBC cases, SBI has been able to recover Rs 8,500 crore from Tata Steel's acquisition of Bhushan Steel. Another Rs 1,500 crore is in an escrow account on account of Electrosteel Steels.
Seeking to provide a quicker and value-maximising outcome for stressed MSMEs, the government has introduced a pre-packaged resolution process for such enterprises by amending the insolvency law. Now, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can seek resolution for their stress through the pre-packaged process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). An ordinance was promulgated to amend the IBC on April 4. Many MSMEs have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and experts opined that the latest amendment, which comes less than two weeks after the suspension of certain IBC provisions ended, is a welcome move.
The Reserve Bank on Monday superseded the boards of Srei Infrastructure Finance as well as Srei Equipment Finance, citing concerns over governance and payment defaults, and decided to refer the two NBFCs for resolution under the insolvency law. This is only the second time in as many years that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is referring entities for the resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) after taking first ever such step in the case of DHFL back in 2019. Superseding the boards of the crisis-hit Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL), the RBI has appointed Rajneesh Sharma, former Chief General Manager of Bank of Baroda as the administrator to manage the affairs of the two companies.
Anil Ambani had given a personal guarantee to the loans given by SBI to Reliance Communications and Reliance Infratel in August 2016.
Byju's first came on board with the BCCI back in 2019 when mobile manufacturer Oppo transferred the sponsorship rights to the online tutorial firm.
Recent tribunal rulings open prospects of large haircuts and barriers to auctioning of personal guarantees, among other issues
The changes would be the most ambitious overhaul to date of rules governing the liquidation or revival of companies in India.
Even though the powers of the board of directors stand suspended once a company's insolvency process begins, it does not absolve the directors from actions taken up to two years earlier.
The new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has serious drawbacks, finds out Somasekhar Sundaresan.
In 2009, ArcelorMittal had picked up a stake in Uttam Galva Steels. A new Section 29A of the IBC prohibits promoters of companies with NPAs of more than a year from bidding for these companies.
India's debt recovery and restructuring framework is still a work in progress, even six months after the President's assent to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016.
'The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code cleans up non-performing assets and puts companies in capable and credible hands.'
Superseding the boards of two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the Srei group will neither create liquidity challenges for sound entities, nor build systemic crises because the markets have factored in the problems with the Kolkata-based firms. Such regulatory steps will help in making the NBFC space more robust, bankers and market experts said. The action should have begun earlier because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had done a special audit last financial year and asked the group to make provisions for assets considered stressed, analysts said.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
Among manufacturing companies that went to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), chemicals and metal firms witnessed more resolutions while companies in the labour intensive (employment friendly) leather and textile sectors mostly get liquidated, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
Sebi has restructured its advisory committee on market data that recommends policy measures pertaining to areas like securities market data access and privacy. Rejigging its market data advisory committee, Sebi has said the panel will now have 21 members, as per the latest information with the regulator. Earlier the committee had 20 members. The committee is chaired by M S Sahoo, Professor at National Law University, Delhi and former chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
He supervised and handled several major big ticket insolvency cases that includes Essar Steel, Bhushan Power & Steel, Bhushan Steel, Jaypee Infratech, ElectroSteel Steel, Binani Cement, Reliance Communications.
Government may also consider giving relief to some of the worst-affected sectors.
Both the NCLT and NCLAT are getting permanent heads after more than one-and-a-half years following the retirement of their respective incumbents.
Enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has been instrumental in pushing up India's ranking in the 'Doing Business' report
The insolvency process of debt-ridden Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL) on Tuesday hit a roadblock as the NCLT Mumbai has stayed the resolution process on the plea of Torrent Group. The stay order was issued by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group challenged the revised bid from Hinduja Group, sources said. Torrent Group, which emerged as the highest bidder with an Rs 8,640 crore offer, had moved the NCLT-Mumbai against Hinduja Group's late revised bid, which it had submitted after the completion of the e-auction process on December 21.
'One of the aspects for transparency and fair governance is to give the industry being represented the chance of lobbying with the regulator.'
Valuers have found almost no assets to pay for their claims against the Videocon group that entered the insolvency process in 2018. But the dissenters suggest that the money is elsewhere, possibly in the group's oil and gas assets, which are not part of the group's bankruptcy case.
Lenders can now review a borrower account within 30 days of default. Earlier, the banks had to start resolution within one day of default.
According to the revised plan, promoter Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and the directors nominated by the promoter would be asked to step down from the board, and the lenders, as part of the resolution process, will infuse around Rs 1,200 crore into the airline as emergency funding.
The meeting will review the current global and domestic economic situation and financial stability issues, including those concerning banking and NBFCs.
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