Amidst the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic and restrictions imposed by various state governments, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), at the request of listed entities, professional bodies, industry associations, market participants etc.,
The recent rise in the COVID-19 cases in India led the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Supreme Court) to pass another order dated 27 April 2021 (SC Order) in Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No 3/2020 (SC Matter), restoring its earlier order dated 23 March 2020 (Earlier SC Order). Last year in March 2020, Supreme Court vide Earlier SC Order had extended the period of limitation in all legal proceedings, whether condonable or not, with effect from 15 March 2020 till further orders.
In a major push for mining reforms in India, the Parliament recently enacted the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 (Amendment Act).
A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court (SC), by a common judgement in Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Limited vs. Bishal Jaiswal (15 April 2020, Civil Appeal No 323 of 2021) and related matters, has held that the for the purposes of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), balance sheet entries could constitute an acknowledgment of debt under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (Limitation Act).
The Indian government is moving quickly with the changes needed to implement the increase to the foreign investment cap in Indian insurance companies from 49% to 74%, which was announced in this year’s budget speech (2021 Budget Speech).
The Hon’ble President of India promulgated an ordinance being the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 dated 4 April 2021 (Ordinance) which inter-alia added Part III-A to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), introducing a framework for prepackaged insolvency resolution (Prepack) for corporate debtors qualifying as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The Ordinance comes in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic on MSMEs given that the pandemic exposed many of such businesses to severe financial distress.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on 1 November 2018, had introduced the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) with Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) as an additional payment mechanism for retail individual investors to invest in certain capital market transactions. UPI is an instant payment system, which was developed by the National Payments Corporation of India.
It is noteworthy that two significant developments have recently taken place in relation to intellectual property laws, a brief summary of which is set out below
Nearly 5 months after green-lighting Google International LLC’s (Google) acquisition of 7.73% shareholding in Indian telecom disruptor, Jio Platforms Limited (Jio), the Competition Commission of India (CCI), has published its approval order.
In a rare move, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the first time has exercised its sparingly used interim powers to redress competitive harm in the market for online intermediation services for booking hotels in India (OTA Market).
