The Delhi high court on Friday declined Future Group's plea for stay on an arbitration tribunal order refusing to interfere with the Emergency Award (EA) which restrained it from going ahead with the Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait sought response from US-based e-commerce giant Amazon which had challenged the merger before the Singapore arbitration tribunal under SIAC, and listed the appeals by Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and Future Retail Ltd (FRL) for further hearing on January 4. Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, urged the court to pass an interim order clarifying that an earlier order passed by the Supreme Court - which stayed all proceedings in relation to the enforcement of the EA - would remain in force despite the subsequent order passed by the duly constituted arbitration tribunal.
The IT services giant is also slated to hold a board meeting on April 13 and 14, to approve of and take on record the consolidated financial results of the company for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2021. Indian IT majors will be announcing their fourth quarter (Q4) and 2020-21 results starting April 12. At the end of the Q3 FY21 Infosys had cash and investment of $4.5 billion.
IDBI Bank had to sell its MF arm after being acquired by state-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation since LIC already had an AMC.
The development comes after Sebi received representations from listed entities, chartered accountant firms, and industry bodies, seeking further extension of time for filing of financial results for the quarter/half year/financial year ended March 31, 2020.
Infosys on Friday said a class action lawsuit filed against the company and some of its employees in the US district court has been dismissed. The move comes after whistleblower complaints alleging certain unethical practices by the top management emerged in October last year.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) technical advisory committee has been mandated to probe the trading halt at National Stock Exchange (NSE) and fix accountability. The committee after a detailed examination would send its findings and recommendations to whole-time member Madbhi Puri Buch, to decide the future course of action, said two people in the know. The panel, which is currently chaired by Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras, is learnt to have sought an explanation over two key issues from NSE: One on the effectiveness of interoperability as it was unable to migrate the trading positions; the other on laxity in switching it to the disaster recovery site.
A number of listed companies are not to be found on their registered address. The stock exchange has also been unable to contact them through other means. These 50 companies had been suspended for violations for more than six months. The BSE had reached out to them with show cause notices in December 2020.
'She violated NSE procedures and rules, corporate governance norms; Chitra acted maybe within her capacity as MD and CEO, but not in the right spirit.'
Sebi on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on HDFC Bank for invoking securities pledged by stock broker BRH Wealth Kreators in violation of the regulator's interim directions. In addition, the bank has been directed to transfer Rs 158.68 crore along with 7 per cent interest per annum into an escrow account till the issue of settlement of clients' securities is reconciled, Sebi said in an order. The instant proceedings have essentially arisen on account of non-conformity by HDFC Bank with the directions contained in the interim order issued by Sebi against BRH Wealth Kreators and other entities on October 7, 2019.
Growth-oriented technology companies have raised Rs 15,000 crore through initial share sales in the last 18 months and IPOs worth around Rs 30,000 crore by such firms are in the pipeline, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi said on Thursday. "Growing number of unicorns in the startup ecosystem is a testimony of the new age tech companies coming of age in our economy. These companies often follow a unique business model focusing more on rapid growth than immediate profitability," Tyagi said at an event organised by industry body CII. During the last 18 months, growth-oriented technology companies have raised a sum of around Rs 15,000 crore through IPOs (Initial Public Offerings).
Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market surged to a 27-month high of Rs 83,114 crore at November-end driven by continued liquidity and improvement in second quarter corporate earnings. P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process. According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) data, the value of P-note investments in Indian markets -- equity, debt and hybrid securities -- increased to Rs 83,114 crore at November-end from Rs 78,686 crore at October-end.
If a retail investor wants exposure to a healthcare ETF, it should be a part of his satellite portfolio, suggests Sanjay Kumar Singh.
The regulator is more carefully scrutinising applications by infrastructure investment vehicles that have a limited number of investors. They have been asked to broaden their investor base before application approval, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Securities and Exchange Board of India is concerned about the structure being used for getting around tax requirements, according to one of the sources.
Sebi has barred eight entities from the securities market for indulging in insider trading activities in the shares of Infosys. While imposing the ban till further orders on the eight entities, the watchdog also directed impounding illegal gains worth Rs 3.06 crore from two of them -- Capital One Partners and Tesora Capital. The entities have traded in the scrip of Infosys while in possession of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) pertaining to Infosys' financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Sebi said in an interim order passed on Monday.
An additional factor spurring the FMP launches is MFs' desire to retain investors as many such offerings are set to mature over the next two months.
In the high profile co-location case, markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the NSE for failing to provide a level-playing field for trading members subscribing to its tick-by-tick (TBT) data feed system. In addition, the regulator levied a fine of Rs 25 lakh each on NSE's former managing directors and chief executive officers Chitra Ramakrishna and Ravi Narain. Alleged lapses in high-frequency trading offered through NSE's co-location facility came under the scanner of the watchdog after a complaint was filed in 2015.
Sebi on Wednesday imposed a total penalty of Rs 25 crore on Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, other individuals and entities for non-compliance with takeover norms in a Reliance Industries case dating back to 2000.
The strict curbs, including a curfew from 8 pm till 7 am, and prohibitory orders during the daytime on weekdays came into force from Monday in the state.
Both the exchanges advised their trading members to exercise additional due diligence while trading in illiquid stocks either on own account or on behalf of their clients.
Any speculation suggesting otherwise, or any rumours around sale of our business in India are incorrect and simply that -- rumours, says head of the US-based asset manager.
A Mumbai court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of businessman Raj Kundra, arrested in a case of alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through apps, after the prosecution contended the police investigation was still on and his release at this juncture will derail the probe.
Sebi had, in February, dropped allegations of fraudulent and unfair trade practices against NSE's former heads Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramakrishna in the co-lo case.
The Zee saga will see a long-drawn-out court battle before shareholders get any chance to vote on any proposal by the management or Invesco, says Prosenjit Datta.
Infosys on Tuesday said the US Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded the investigation into the whistleblower allegations made last year, and that it does not anticipate any further action by the regulator. In October last year, Infosys had informed stock exchanges of having received anonymous whistleblower complaints alleging certain unethical practices by the top management. It then started a probe into the matter and roped in external investigators.
The Indian State's arbitrariness may have come to be accepted with resignation within the country, but when it behaves in the same manner with external players, it gets a push-back, observes T N Ninan.
'This issue is related to national security because they were compromising the entire capital markets's core infrastructure by leaking confidential information.' 'What would have happened if the servers had come down?' 'Or some confidential information leaked to terrorists who could have knocked out our capital market?'
Sebi's change of rules will give the government -- which owns 100 per cent of LIC -- the flexibility to assess market demand and opt for lower dilution.
There was no postal intimation to unitholders who didn't have a registered email address, according to a letter that Midas Touch Investors Association sent to Sebi.
The regulator typically meets overseas investors in the US and UK in the first half of a financial year, and had opted for a virtual meet last year too.
Walmart agreed to pay more than $ 144 million to settle US Security and Exchange Commission's charges and approximately $ 138 million to resolve parallel criminal charges by the Department of Justice for a combined total of more than $ 282 million.
Investing merely on the basis of past return can land you in trouble even in debt funds, a supposedly safe asset class, suggests Sarbajeet K Sen.
The Supreme Court Monday stayed the ongoing proceedings before the Delhi high court in the case related to the amalgamation of Future Retail Ltd (FRL) with Reliance Retail. A bench of Justices R F Nariman, B R Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy posted the matter for hearing on May 4 and directed that all pleadings be completed in the matter. Amazon had moved the apex court on April 8 challenging the Delhi high court's division bench order that had vacated a stay on Kishore Biyani-led Future Group proceeding with its Rs 24,713 crore asset sale to Reliance Industries.
The total default is said to be in excess of Rs 3,000 crore - making this the largest default by a broker.
Infosys said it is also "aware of a securities class action lawsuit" that has been filed against the company in a federal court in the US, based on the generalised allegations in the anonymous complaints. The company intends to defend itself vigorously in such a lawsuit.
"The company has been in touch with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the anonymous whistleblower complaints (anonymous complaints) and has learnt that the SEC has initiated an investigation into this matter. The company will cooperate with the SEC's investigation," Infosys said in a statement.
Companies providing portfolio management services (PMS) had a tough time beating the benchmark index in January, with more than half of the schemes invested in large companies underperforming in the run-up to the Union Budget. The Nifty 50 index was down 2.5 per cent during the month. Only around 44 per cent of PMS schemes did better, among the schemes investing in large-cap companies. The analysis is based on data from industry tracker PMS Bazaar. Half the mid-cap schemes outperformed, while the rest underperformed.
US e-commerce giant Amazon has written to the independent directors of Future Retail Limited (FRL), including Gagan Singh, Ravindra Dhariwal and Jacob Mathew, and its audit committee, providing data and alleging that there have been significant financial irregularities to the prejudice of public shareholders, banks, creditors, and third-party suppliers. Amazon has said this warrants a thorough and independent examination of all relevant facts and related-party transactions, including of past financial years, by an independent agency. Separately, Amazon has written to Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Ajay Tyagi, seeking the withdrawal of the regulator's conditional approval granted to FRL related to the merger deal between the Future group and Reliance.
While the amount collected is a tad lower than last two years, it may surpass the previous two years' collections by the end of the year.
Equities in India saw record FPI inflows of $16.8 billion in November and December, taking the benchmark indices to new highs.
Ajit Balakrishnan offers a thinking man's guide to the state of ecom in a nation of shopkeepers.