Power companies without wilful defaulter tag can’t be taken to NCLT, rules HC
The Allahabad High Court ruled that a power company can’t be taken to bankruptcy court for not repaying loans unless it has been declared a wilful defaulter, recognizing the stress that the sector is under. It also directed the finance secretary to meet power producers in June to discuss their financial woes. This follows a February directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asking lenders to resolve stressed loans within 180 days of default, failing which the company had to be referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for resolution.
Bank fraud: ED attaches assets worth Rs 4,701 cr of Sterling Biotech
Assets worth over Rs 4,700 crore of Sterling Biotech Group, a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm, were attached today by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a Rs 5,000-crore bank fraud and money laundering case, the agency said. The ED had registered the case in October last year and the attachment amount is the second highest so far this year after the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi bank fraud case.
Sebi tells mutual funds to enforce AMFI guidelines
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has asked fund houses to follow the ‘best practices’ guidelines issued by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). It has reiterated the need for sticking to guidelines that stipulate a cap on payment of upfront commission to distributors. Issued by Amfi to take effect from April 2015, this had capped upfront commission at 100 basis points (bps). “The regulator has said it is high time the industry players followed the guidelines in both letter and spirit,” said the chief executive of a fund house.
Whistle-blower in ICICI Bank case writes another letter to PM Modi
Even as ICICI Bank set up an enquiry to investigate an anonymous whistle-blower’s complaint, activist shareholder Arvind Gupta has written another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with new allegations against the lender, Chanda and Deepak Kochhar, the Ruias-owned Essar group and Ruias’ relatives. Gupta, a Delhi-based trustee of the Indian Investors Protection Council, first made an appeal in 2016. He had petitioned for an investigation into what he deemed “an illicit banking and commercial relationship between the Videocon Group of Venugopal Dhoot and ICICI Bank’s MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar’s family-owned NuPower Renewable Group, steered by her husband, Deepak Kochhar”.
9 PSU banks under PCA submit recovery plan to government
As many as 9 PSU banks, which are currently under RBI watch for poor financial health, have submitted a two-year recovery plan to the government entailing stake sale in subsidiaries and reduction of corporate loan book. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had last month asked these 11 PSU banks to come up with a plan to strengthen finances and meet the RBI’s capital adequacy norms. Of these, 9 banks have already submitted report to the Department of Financial Services, an official said.
Walmart-Flipkart deal: Commerce Ministry asks RBI, ED to look into allegations of ‘FDI violation’
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India and the Enforcement Directorate to look into the allegations of ‘FDI violation’ made by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) in the $16-billion Walmart-Flipkart deal. While maintaining that it is entrusted with the formulation of FDI policy across sectors including e-commerce, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has in an office memorandum dated May 28 said that FDI policy as contained in ‘Consolidated FDI Policy Circular 2017’ is notified under FEMA law.
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