Introduction

Edition 01/21-22

Week – April 05th to April 09th

Quote for the week:

“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”  

  - Dale Carnegie

We welcome you to our weekly newsletter!

The ‘Swift e-Bulletin’ - weekly newsletter, covers all regulatory updates and critical judgements passed during the week. We hope that you liked our previous editions and found it to be of great value in its content. We want this newsletter to be valuable for you so, please share your feedback and suggestions to help us improve.

In the wake of COVID-19, the various regulatory authorities have been granting many relaxations, exemptions and amendments to the various legislations by regulatory authorities to ease out the operations during this time of crisis.

Further, various regulatory authorities have been proactive in bringing significant regulatory changes in recent challenging times. This week’s newsletter covers various Circulars/notifications issued by certain regulatory authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (“IBBI”) and critical judgements and orders passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (“NCLT”), National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (“NCLAT”) SEBI, Supreme Court and High Court.   

We have prepared a comprehensive summary for quick reference of the aforesaid updates and Judgements / orders issued during the week of April 05, 2021 to April 09, 2021.

Thank you,

Swift Team

Table of Contents

REGULATORY UPDATES

SEBI UPDATES

1. SEBI modifies criteria for contribution of Asset Management Companies (“AMCs”) towards share capital of Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (“LPCC”) prescribed in its earlier circular vide Circular dated April 06, 2021.
2. SEBI reviews and rationalizes the existing regulatory reporting requirements for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in terms of AIF Regulations vide Circular dated April 07, 2021.

RBI UPDATES

1. RBI provides relaxes the period of parking of unutilized proceeds of External Commercial Borrowings (“ECB”) in term deposits vide Circular dated April 07, 2021.
2. RBI specifies Category I Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) set up as trust and registered with SEBI under SEBI (Alternative Investment Fund) Regulations, 2012, as ‘qualified buyers’.

IBBI UPDATES

1. Ministry of Law and Justice issues The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021.

JUDGEMENTS/ ORDERS

NCLT

1. National Company Law Tribunal dismissed the petition and did not allowed to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against the Respondent Corporate Debtor.

NCLAT

1. NCLAT set aside the order of the NCLT, Ahmedabad Bench and dispensed with the meetings of the Equity shareholder, Secured and Unsecured Creditors of the Appellant Company.

SEBI

1. SEBI imposess penalty on promoters of Reliance Industries Limited RIL for not making public announcement  under takeover regulations.

HIGH COURT

1. The Court dismissed the petition filed by MX Media and Entertainment Pte. Ltd on the grounds of Consensus ad idem, the foremost, and most indispensable, prerequisite for any concluded contract, is totally absent in the present case.
2. Petition filed by Innovision Limited stands disposed and the dispute was jointly referred to the Delhi International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), which would appoint an arbitrator to arbitrate on the disputes between the parties.

SUPREME COURT

1. Supreme Court held that, financial creditor has not only the right to recover the outstanding dues by filing a suit, but also has a right to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process against the corporate person (being a corporate debtor) under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
2. Supreme Court in the case of constitutional validity of the third proviso to Section 254(2A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 under question, held that any order of stay shall stand vacated after the expiry of the period(s) mentioned in the Section only if the delay in disposing of the appeal is attributable to the assessee.
3. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal made by Shital Fibers Limited on the grounds of no merit and observed that the defence of the appellant could not be said to be bona fide, in good faith and of substance.