NCLT stays Reliance Infratel asset sale to Jio until further orders
The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), on Monday evening, stayed the sale of Reliance Infratel Ltd’s (R-Infra) assets until further orders. The NCLT also dismissed petitions filed by Reliance Infratel which sought to put a stop to the tribunal’s hearings on the proposed sale of its assets to a third-party, in lieu of debt resolution. Reliance Infratel is a subsidiary of Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications (RCom). The company plans to sell its assets, through a binding agreement, to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJio) as per a debt resolution plan approved by lenders in December 2017.
Sebi moots ‘surge charges’ on members with high order-to-trade ratio
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is mooting to impose high transaction charges on brokers or trading members availing the co-location facility at stock exchanges. Access to co-location servers allows faster access to trade data. Typically, it is used for algorithm-based trading, also known as high frequency trading (HFT). According to sources, the regulator is working on the concept of a “surge charge” on traders whose order-to-trade ratio is high. The said charges levied would be as much as four times the normal charge depending on certain parameters, including trading time, said a person privy to the development.
RBI: SMA details exempted from disclosure under RTI
contradicting its reply to an earlier right to information (RTI) query, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently said bank-wise information on special mention account (SMA) 1 and 2 is exempt from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (a) & (d) of the RTI Act. While SMA 1 refers to loans where repayments are overdue between 31-60 days, SMA 2 loans are ones where principal or interest is overdue between 61-90 days. Although these are technically not non-performing assets (NPAs), but nonetheless indicate ‘incipient stress’
Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill seeks to impound, sell assets of fraudsters
A Bill to empower the authorities to confiscate and sell assets of economic offenders, especially bank fraudsters and scamsters who have fled the country, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Economic Offenders Bill 2018 was introduced by Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance, in the Lower House amidst din over the PNB scam. The Bill paves the way for confiscation of all assets, including benami assets, both within and outside the country, of declared economic offenders. The proposed law will apply for economic offences with monetary value in excess of ₹100 crore.
Co-working spaces go the extra mile to guide woman entrepreneurs
An entrepreneur who works out of a Gurgaon-based co-working space has reason to cheer. The shared workplace is soon rolling out a women’s forum, under which female community members can share experiences, network and brainstorm. Also on the anvil: more woman-focused events. “As I get my fintech venture off the ground, I can draw from the strengths of other women with similar ambitions,” said the 28-year old, who asked to remain anonymous. Around the country, co-working spaces have a new agenda: supporting female entrepreneurs within their communities. Support groups, networking and mentorship sessions, and events addressed by woman cofounders who’ve gone the distance — there’s all this and more for female community members looking to build their own startups.
PSBs: MAXIMUM GOVERNMENT, MINIMUM GOVERNANCE
The Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam has turned into a public sector versus private sector debate. A few weeks ago, a public sector bank chairman made a forceful point: it is private sector companies that have defrauded the banks; it is the private sector who is the “willful defaulters”. That doesn’t speak very highly of governance standards in the private sector. Others have pointed to the Barings debacle, where a rogue trader brought down the bank, and to the global financial crisis, brought about entirely by private sector banks. A group of 60 economists have cautioned against using the scam as a pretext for privatizing banks. Since the government in any case has to bail out a failing bank, even a private sector one, why privatize the profits if the losses have to be socialized, so goes the argument.
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