Mutual funds, as experts and custodians of another set of retail investors' savings, play a speculative game they are neither supposed to nor equipped to do, cautions Debashis Basu.
A top-class board is important from a systemic point of view, more so at a time when the wider financial world and India Inc is chasing the same talent as banks.
Stock exchanges NSE and BSE have freezed shares of promoters of Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali group firm Patanjali Foods, but the company said the decision will not have any impact on its functioning. Patanjali Foods Ltd, erstwhile Ruchi Soya Industries, on Thursday said the freezing of its promoters' shareholding in the company "will not have any impact" on its financial position and functioning of the company. On Thursday, Patanjali Foods Ltd (PFL) informed that leading bourses BSE and NSE had frozen shares of its 21 promoter entities, including Patanjali Ayurved for failing to meet minimum public shareholding norms.
A new law that defines how companies should process users' data came into force with the President giving assent to the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act passed by Parliament in the just-concluded monsoon session. The law arms individuals with greater control over their data while allowing companies to transfer users' data abroad for processing, except to nations and territories restricted by the Centre through notification. It also gives the government power to seek information from firms and issue directions to block content.
Without naming Adani group specifically, the capital markets watchdog said in a statement that unusual price movement in the stocks of a business conglomerate has been observed in the past week.
The Adani stock price saga will pass into public memory as one of those matters that simply escaped being nailed down, perhaps because too many vested interests were involved, notes Debashis Basu.
The CBI has booked Kanpur-based Rotomac Global and its directors for Rs 750.54 crore for alleged fraud in Indian Overseas Bank, officials said. The company, which was in the business of writing instruments, has a total outstanding of Rs 2,919 crore against a consortium of seven banks led by Bank of India in which Indian Overseas Bank has an exposure of 23 per cent. The agency has booked the company and its Directors - Sadhna Kothari and Rahul Kothari - under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy (120-B) and cheating (420), besides various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
With auditing under the scanner and two of the Big Four firms stopping non-audit services for audit clients, auditors will now be subjected to a more stringent standard of reporting.
The tax authorities may tell banks and crypto exchanges to report transactions of virtual digital assets (VDAs) as the government begins taxing gains from cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens from April 1. So far, the tax department has relied on voluntary disclosures on transactions of VDAs. Once implemented, the sale and purchase of digital assets will reflect in the Annual Information Statement (AIS). The AIS contains details of at least 46 of the financial transactions done by a taxpayer in a financial year.
While the collapse of a large financial intermediary can wreak havoc on the system because of the interconnectivity, a large business conglomerate too can play spoilsport if the banks have too much exposure to the entity, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Media company New Delhi Television (NDTV) recorded its highest-ever consolidated profit at the group level in over a decade for financial year 2021-22 (FY22), said co-chairpersons Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy in the firm's latest annual report. Addressing shareholders, the Roys, founder-promoters of NDTV, said the company had emerged financially strong in FY22, continuing the turnaround of recent years. "Both the television and digital branches of the NDTV group reported their highest-ever profit. NDTV Ltd (television arm) recorded a profit of Rs 59.18 crore.
Occasionally, a whistle-blower releases sensitive financial data.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Sebi to probe within two months allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group and any lapses in regulatory disclosures, and also set up a panel to look into protection of Indian investors after a damning report by a US short seller wiped out more than USD 140 billion of the conglomerate's market value. The top court while directing the setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre for the assessment of the extant regulatory framework and for making recommendations to strengthen the process said it was appropriate to set up such a panel of experts in order to "protect Indian investors against volatility of the kind which has been witnessed in the recent past". The court-appointed Justice Sapre panel, which will be provided assistance by the Centre and other statutory agencies including the Sebi chairperson, will have to submit its report in a sealed cover within two months, said the bench which comprised Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala.
As per the assessment done by the RBI, the gross NPA of the SBI was 11,932 crore more at Rs 1,84,682 as against Rs 1,72,750 reported by the bank. As a result the bank has to make additional provisioning of Rs 12,036 crore in the balance sheet.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm after opposition members held protest in Parliament seeking a discussion on the issue.
'The RBI's clarification on non-performing advances accounting is likely to increase NPAs by around one-third for non-banking finance companies,' domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research said in a report on Friday.
To strengthen corporate governance practices and disclosure requirements, Sebi has notified new rules, including that top 1,000 listed firms will have to formulate a dividend distribution policy. The regulator has also put in place a framework in relation to applicability, constitution and role of the Risk Management Committee (RMC) and eased norms for re-classification of a promoter as a public shareholder, according to a notification dated May 5. In addition, the regulator has asked listed firms to make available audio and video recordings of analyst and investor meets on their websites as well as stock exchanges within 24 hours or before the next trading day and also notified rules regarding Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BSSR).
Indian start-ups raised issues, such as blockages in international wire transfers, disruptions due to threshold limits on withdrawals, lack of communication from US agencies, and the need for preferential access to credit, in a meeting with the government over the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology, held a virtual meeting with over 450 members from start-ups, venture capitalists, and investors who have been directly affected by the closure of SVB. He assured them that the IT ministry would put together a list of suggestions and give it to the finance minister on behalf of start-ups.
Indra Nooyi, the only female representative in the ICC's Board of Directors, has decided to recuse herself from the upcoming sale of its media rights process as she is also a member of potential digital rights bidder Amazon's board.
It was touted as a game changer but big-ticket privatisation has been a mixed bag as the government faces unanticipated challenges of lukewarm investor response, employee union agitation and legal hurdles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's often-repeated statement 'the government has no business to be in business' guided the drawing up of an ambitious privatisation pipeline. While Air India sale succeeded, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) divestment failed.
The auditor of ABG Shipyard, which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the Rs 23,000-crore default to banks, had settled an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) by paying a small settlement fee in 2019. The regulator had initiated an investigation into the fund diversion from ABG Shipyard and had asked the auditor to explain why it failed to detect fund diversion in time. In his settlement application, auditor MN Ahmed, partner of Nisar & Kumar, a chartered accountant firm, said he ceased to be an Indian citizen and has retired from the profession.
The Centre has no objection to a proposal for setting up a panel of domain experts to look into strengthening the regulatory mechanisms for the stock market, the Supreme Court was told on Monday while it was hearing pleas relating to the Adani stocks rout after the Hindenburg report.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre to investigate the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations and other regulatory aspects related to stock markets.
Chartered accountants are readying themselves for a higher onus on individuals to report violations that they come across as part of their work. There has been a scramble to understand the implications as the non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR) comes into effect in less than six months. It is applicable from April 1, 2022 after being deferred earlier because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, more pieces of information about your transactions and income, such as remittances received from overseas, will be uploaded in Form 26AS by the income-tax (I-T) department. This will help the taxpayer file I-T return (ITR) correctly and assist the department in detecting discrepancies, if any, in the ITR. Besides foreign remittances, these new items are interest on I-T refund, dividend from mutual funds (MFs), and purchase of MFs, among others.
Mihir Tanna, Associate Director, S K Patodia & Associates, answers your tax queries.
Roopam Asthana, CEO and the whole-time director, Liberty General Insurance Ltd, will answer your queries on HEALTH and AUTO insurance.
Leading exchange BSE on Wednesday asked Infosys to explain why it did not make a disclosure about a whistleblower complaint which alleged that the company's top executives were following "unethical practices" to shore up profits through irregular accounting ways.
In Chanda's defence, one can always say, why would the Videocon Group take care of her husband as a quid pro quo to get a loan? After all, the group has taken money from the entire banking industry and ICICI Bank's share in the pie is not even 10 per cent. So, if it had a quid pro quo with Chanda to get the money, it must have had similar arrangements with other banks, too. If this is not the case, one must accept that it had got money from all banks, including ICICI, without any under-the-table conditions, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The income-tax department may make a permanent account number (PAN) mandatory for cryptocurrency investors, in line with the demat account rules for stock market transactions, according to two people privy to the discussion. At present, disclosure of crypto holdings and related gains is voluntary. If tax authorities go ahead with the PAN mandate, crypto exchanges will have to furnish a statement of financial transactions (SFT) before the income-tax department.
While the trial of the Sheena Bora murder case is far from over, the story has seen some bizarre turns and twists so far.
The average top executive monthly compensation is Rs 1 crore. The median employee salary is now Rs 820,000.
India is among 75 countries with which Switzerland's Federal Tax Administration has exchanged information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on Automatic Exchange of Information.
LIC owns 3.69 per cent of the total listed universe based on available disclosures, the lowest since at least June 2009.
The Union government told the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court that audit statement of receipt and payment accounts of the PM CARES Fund for 2019-20 was available on the trust's website.
In view of the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday asked scheduled commercial banks and co-operative banks not to make any dividends for the financial year ended March 2020. In view of the ongoing stress and the heightened uncertainty on account of the pandemic, RBI said it is imperative that banks continue to conserve capital to support the economy and absorb losses, if any. The decision is based on review of the September quarter financial performance of banks.
Adani group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The group has maintained it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
With at least three IPOs in the offing this year, stock market investors have a lot to look forward to.
Penalty must act as a deterrent. If it is too low, it could encourage the regulated entities to lap up penalty instead of complying with the norms, suggests Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
