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
The Lok Sabha session was on Wednesday brought to a sudden end, two days before the scheduled culmination of the session during which the budgetary exercise was the highlight.
The government has recapitalised public sector banks (PSBs) by infusing over Rs 3.10 lakh crore in the last five fiscals, a majority of which was through issuance of recapitalisation bonds, Parliament was informed on Monday. "Government has infused Rs 3,10,997 crore to recapitalise banks during the last five financial years i.e., from 2016-17 to 2020-21, out of which Rs 34,997 crore were sourced through budgetary allocation and Rs 2,76,000 crore through issuance of recapitalisation bonds to these banks," Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He was responding to a host of questions asked by Congress party's Member of Parliament Manish Tewari.
The order, a "negative" overall, will be a short term positive for corporate focused state-run and private lenders because of the possibility of delaying incremental stressed asset recognition.
Lenders have postponed the second auction to sell bankrupt Reliance Capital's assets by a week to April 11, even as the Torrent group, the highest bidder in the first round, pursues litigation in the Supreme Court. Lenders are expecting the Hinduja group and Torrent to participate in the second auction and maximise the value of the assets. American financial services major, Oakteee may also join the race, said a source.
Bankers said they are looking outside the bankruptcy courts and will be able to resolve a few debts in the power sector before January-end.
The interim finance minister said the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was helping in recovery of non-performing loans.
The ruling by US Judge Steven Rhodes, who cited the city's dismal finances and $18 billion owed to a multitude of creditors in support of his decision, marks a watershed in the history of Detroit.
Fondly remembering the contribution of retiring members from the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the wisdom shared by them would be greatly missed and their departure would leave a void.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday dismissed the petition filed by an employee association of debt-ridden Jet Airways, challenging the sale of two floors of office space in Mumbai's business district of Bandra Kurla during the insolvency process of the grounded carrier. Jet Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Welfare Association (JAMEWA had challenged the orders passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on June 11, 2021, allowing the sale of the office space for Rs 490 crore. The association had contended that the sale of BKC property, was not permissible under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) as a moratorium was declared over the assets of the company after an order dated June 20, 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with "mission-mode" reforms being undertaken by his government. Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue in Johannesburg, Modi also said India soon will become a $5 trillion economy.
The Piramal Group on Friday said it is planning to move the Supreme Court to appeal against an order by insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT, which sent back its winning bid for DHFL to the debt-laden finance company's lenders for reconsidering the valuation. Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd in a statement said that "the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) acquisition by Piramal Group remains unaffected and the business integration continues as envisaged". The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday, while delivering a judgement on 63 Moons Technologies petition had directed the lenders of DHFL to reconsider their decision regarding the valuation of the financial firm's avoidable transactions, while approving the insolvency resolution plan submitted by Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd.
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.
The verdict, upholding Centre's November 15, 2019, notification bringing personal guarantors of corporate debtors under the net of the IBC, assumes significance in view of the fact that various high-profile industrialists may now face insolvency proceedings along with their debt-ridden firms under the IBC.
Home buyers would be able to invoke Section 7 of the IBC against errant developers.
Most banks led by the State Bank, have or are going to declare DHFL account as NPA in the third quarter.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday stayed the order of NCLT Mumbai directing the lenders of DHFL to consider the offer by the debt-ridden mortgage firm's erstwhile promoter Kapil Wadhawan. A vacation bench of NCLAT comprising Acting Chairman Justice A I S Cheema and Member Technical V P Singh stayed the order passed by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). On May 19, NCLT Mumbai had directed the settlement plan offered by Wadhawan to be considered by the lenders of DHFL, one of the lawyers engaged in the matter said.
The target was for banks to sell Rs 2 trillion worth of non-performing assets to NARCL, the so-called 'bad bank, by 2021-2022. Only 10 per cent of this has been executed.
After an all-party meeting in New Delhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said that some of these 32 bills have already been discussed by standing committees of Parliament.
The Bill when enacted will pave the way for setting up of the Resolution Corporation
Lenders of debt-ridden Jet Airways on Tuesday filed an appeal in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against implementation of the resolution plan by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, according to sources. The sources said the lenders have maintained that the condition precedent mentioned in the resolution plan of the consortium has not been met. And therefore, the plan is not valid. "The lenders want the plan to be circled back to the committee of creditors (CoC) for fresh consideration," the sources said.
Enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has been instrumental in pushing up India's ranking in the 'Doing Business' report
She said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is working "hard" on the Bankruptcy Code
Lenders can now review a borrower account within 30 days of default. Earlier, the banks had to start resolution within one day of default.
Since the inception of the code, the threat of insolvency has brought many debtors in line
Government may also consider giving relief to some of the worst-affected sectors.
Scheduled commercial banks have written off loans amounting to over Rs 10.09 lakh crore in the last five financial years and the process of recovery of dues from the borrowers continues, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
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.
Banks' bad loans might cross Rs 10 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal, mainly on account of slippages in retail and MSME sectors, a study said on Tuesday. "NPAs are expected to rise to 8.5-9 per cent by March 2022, driven by slippages in retail, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) accounts, besides some restructured assets," the study by industry body Assocham and ratings firm Crisil said. The study titled 'Reinforcing the Code' said the Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) of banks are expected to cross Rs 10 lakh crore by March 2022.
Apart from being the most successful cases under the IBC, Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel are among the best steel assets in the country. They also ended up helping their lenders get back a significant chunk of the money while allowing Tata Steel to consolidate its position and giving the world's two largest steel makers - ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel - a strong foothold in India. A significant contrast was the pace at which these two cases were resolved under the bankruptcy code. In the annals of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Essar Steel may go down in history as the most noticeable resolution with the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, and the incumbent, Ruia family, locked in an intense battle spanning more than two years and ultimately resulting in full recovery of the principal amount for the financial creditors.
The Indian lenders are worried over the fast depleting asset base of the Future group companies which would make their recovery of dues difficult. The asset base of Future group has eroded in the last two years due to lockdown and takeover of 947 stores by rival Reliance Retail after Future group's lease on the properties expired. Bankers said they have approached bankruptcy court so as to avoid any duplication of legal action and reduce time at the legal forums.
This pertains to certain irregularities in loan disbursements towards the development of two Slum Rehabilitation Authority projects undertaken by the company in the past.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday proposed tighter norms for treatment of wilful defaulters under which banks and other lenders will be required to examine all accounts with outstanding amount of Rs 25 lakh and more to see if the borrower is deliberately not repaying the loan. The central bank has issued a 'Draft Master Direction on Treatment of Wilful Defaulters and Large Defaulters' on which comments have been invited till October 31. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the draft Master Direction expands the scope for regulated entities which can classify borrowers as wilful defaulters and broadens the definition of wilful default.
As many as 49 players including Reliance Retail, Jindal Power Ltd and Adani group have submitted Expression of Interest (EoI) for acquiring the assets of debt-ridden Future Retail, which is currently going through insolvency resolution process. Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, which is the holding company for retail operations of RIL and April Moon Retail Private Ltd, a joint venture between Adani Airport holdings and Flemingo group have again submitted their EOI, after the lenders of Future Retail decided to invite fresh bids after dividing FRL's assets into clusters. According to an update from FRL's Resolution Professional, the 49 players would be permitted to submit "resolution plan(s) for any/all such Clusters under Option II".
Debt-ridden Future Group is now focusing on saving and rebuilding firms such as -- Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Supply Chain Solutions, Future Consumer and Future Enterprises, after the Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail was rejected by secured creditors, according to industry sources. However, Future Group's flagship firm Future Retail Ltd (FRL), which has nearly Rs 18,000 crore debt, is bound to face the corporate insolvency resolution process before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Other companies like Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL), Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL), Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (FSCSL), Future Consumer Ltd (FCL) can sustain on their own and can be rebuilt by restructuring their liabilities with the help of current lenders and investors, said an industry source close to the Future Group.
Future group promoter Kishore Biyani's stake fell consistently across group companies since December 2019 after American retail major Amazon infused funds in a Future group promoter entity and the group companies started showing signs of financial distress due to closure of stores due to Covid-19 pandemic. As lenders take Future group companies to the bankruptcy courts to recover their dues under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the shareholders of Future group companies are staring at complete wipeout of their investments as secured lenders get top priority in any potential recovery, say lawyers. "The fate of all Future group shareholders is now sealed with them looking at a complete loss.
Piramal Group on Thursday said the Reserve Bank is understood to have cleared the resolution plan for debt-ridden DHFL as approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC). The CoC had approved a resolution plan submitted by a Piramal Group company, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited, last month. "We understand that the RBI has approved the DHFL resolution plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, submitted by the CoC," Piramal Group said in a statement. The resolution plan was approved by the CoC in its 18th meeting concluded on January 15, 2021.
US-based Oaktree on Monday pipped Piramal Enterprises and Adani Group to emerge as the highest bidder for DHFL after fresh bids were invited under the insolvency process, according to sources. The committee of creditors had fixed December 14 as the last for submission of revised bids. According to the sources, Oaktree raised the bid to Rs 36,646 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore for insurance and Rs 3,000 crore of interest earned, while Piramal Enterprises offered Rs 35,550 crore, including Rs 300 for insurance and Rs 3,000 of interest earned.
After the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code came into force, which calls for an auction of assets of loan defaulting entities, recoveries have picked up, said Jaitley.
Piramal Enterprises' bid for debt-ridden DHFL received the most votes from lenders at the close of the voting process on Friday, sources said. Piramal Enterprises' bid received 94 per cent votes as compared to 45 per cent for the US-based Oaktree Capital. Voting was done on various parameters, including qualitative and quantitative.