RBI on Cryptocurrencies
The Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) on April 05, 2018 released a “Statement of Development and Regulatory Policies” (“Statement”), in which it has banned entities regulated by the RBI from dealing with virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Statement explicitly states that “In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs. Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time”. It has been reported that the “specified time” mentioned in the Statement is a period of 3 months, within which all banks and financial institutions regulated by RBI must conclude their dealings in cryptocurrencies.
SEBI Revamps System of Monitoring Foreign Investment in Listed Companies
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on April 05, 2018 released a circular titled “Monitoring of Foreign Investment limits in listed Indian companies”. In this circular, SEBI has stated that after consultation with the RBI, it has decided to redesign the system of monitoring foreign investment limits for investment in listed companies under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. Through the circular, SEBI has instructed the various stakeholders (depositories and stock exchanges in which the companies are listed) to issue circulars and guidelines to this end for the effective implementation of the new system outlined in this circular from May 01, 2018 onwards.
MCA Constitutes Committee for CSR
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) via an office order dated April 06, 2018, has constituted a ‘steering committee’ to review the extant provisions of Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) in the Companies Act, 2013 (“Companies Act”) and related rules thereunder. The 12 member committee comprises of stakeholder representation from legal, policy, accountancy, secretarial and social spheres. The main purpose of this committee is to revisit and review Schedule VII of the Companies Act which deals with CSR and recommend new guidelines for the effective enforcement of CSR.
MCA revises format of e-forms
The MCA has published on its website that e-forms 20B (form for filing annual return by a company having share capital with the Registrar of companies) and MR-1 (form for appointment of managerial personnel) shall be revised with effect from April 06, 2018. Stakeholders and interested parties, please take note of said revision.
Star India Wins Broadcast Rights for Indian Cricket
In addition to securing the worldwide broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League, Star India (“Star”) has secured the global consolidated rights (both television and digital) to broadcast Indian cricket matches and from 2018-2023 for a record INR 6138 crore. Star maintains its stronghold on Indian cricket broadcasting after securing bids for consecutive cycles of auctioned rights. Star won this bid in the inaugural e-auction conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (“BCCI”). Star was competing against Sony and Reliance in the e-auction. It is reported that the bidding war went back and forth for more than 2 days.
APMC Reforms Opposed in Maharashtra
It has been reported that the proposed reforms to the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act (“Mah APMC Act”) hit a roadblock when legislators on both sides of the aisle opposed its deregulations. The Mah APMC Act, despite a proven track record of successfully adopting agricultural reforms has faced opposition from the legislators. A report is awaited from the 11 member committee constituted to study the Mah APMC Act and recommend amendments.
In a recently published piece, Abhimanyu Baheti had critiqued the APMC mechanism in light of the Union Government’s push for an e-platform to conduct and regulate the sale of farm produce under the newly devised National Agriculture Market scheme.