With effect from 15 October 2015, amendments in terms of sections 139, section 143(i) and section 144 of the Finance Act, 2015 (Finance Act) which amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) have been notified.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has notified the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (Second Amendment) Rules on 16 September 2019 (“Amendment Rules”) amending the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011 (“FCRA Rules”) under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 2010 (“FCRA”).
In August, India ushered in a new age of empowered consumers, when it passed the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 – replacing the over three-decade old Consumer Protection Act, 1986. What are the key features of this new law that Indian companies must be mindful of? How will it impact the way businesses function in India? Zakir Merchant, Partner, Corporate & Commercial talks about this new law in this video.
In a country with a fiercely loyal cricket fandom and a burgeoning fan base for many other sports, the success of online fantasy sports seemed like a no-brainer. But the growth of this industry in India has been punctuated by frequent questions on the very legality of these games. A recent Bombay High Court ruling has provided some much-needed clarity on this. Surbhi Kejriwal, corporate partner and an avid cricket fan herself, explains.
On 31 July 2019, the Companies (Amendment) Act 2019 (Amendment) received assent of the President of India. We had written earlier on the ordinance promulgated on 2 November 2018 (Ordinance) to amend the Companies Act, 2013 (available here).
The Digital Age has ushered in a new era of commerce and digital branding, as well as a new set of customer expectations. Digitisation has provided easy access, a large variety of choice, convenient payment mechanisms, improved services and shopping as per convenience. However, along the growth path it also brought in challenges related to consumer protection.
On 31 July 2019, the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Amendment Act) received assent of the President of India. We had written on the Amendment Act with special focus on the CSR related amendments (Proposed CSR Amendments) which is available here.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide notification dated 16 August 2019, notified the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Amendment Rules 2019 (Amendment Rules). The Amendment Rules have amended the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014 (Original Rules).
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) vide its circular dated 21 August 2019 (Ref: General Circular No. 09/2019 available at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/GeneralCircular_21082019.pdf) (General Circular) clarified that appointed date as contemplated under Section 232(6) of the Companies Act 2013 (Act) can either be a specific calendar date or a date based on the trigger of a specific event.
On 8 February 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) released the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) Amendment Rules 2019 (New SBO Rules) to revise and amend the Companies (Significant Beneficial Owners) 2018 (Old SBO Rules). As per the New SBO Rules, the first SBO-related filing is due on 12 May 2019.
