India
When V. Rajapandian was pushed out of his job at a heat treatment plant in India, the reason had nothing to do with performance or falling revenue. Instead, his boss offered a peculiar explanation: After Rajapandian defaulted on a loan from a mobile app, recovery agents demanded the plant pay on his behalf, Bloomberg News reported. “I lost my job because of them,” Rajapandian said of CASHe, the app he used to secure a $132 loan.
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More changes have been proposed to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 by the Insolvency Law Committee, Bloomberg News reported. These include a swifter admission process, a time limit on acceptance of resolution plans, more stringent measures against avoidable transactions and wrongful trading, and a formal closure of the voluntary liquidation process. The ILC was constituted in November 2017, by the central government. It has since issued four reports on the basis of which the ministry has recommended changes to the IBC.
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Praxis Home Retail Ltd has settled with regulator Sebi a case of alleged violation of market norms, by paying over Rs20 lakh towards settlement charges, the Economic Times of India reported. The firm had allegedly failed to make disclosures of certain material events, in accordance with the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements norms. The material events pertain to a company petition that was filed against the company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process for its failure to make payment.
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Indian tax officials have seized more than $30 million in cash and gold in raids on suspected tax evaders this week including a record haul of 1.94 billion rupees ($26 million) and 23 kg of gold ahead of assembly elections in five states, Reuters reported. The raids triggered a flurry of accusations from rival political parties over protection for tax evaders as they prepare to compete in the elections, including in the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh.
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The Reserve Bank of India’s weekend intervention in RBL Bank has triggered rumors regarding the health of the privately-owned lender, Asia Times reported. The central bank on Dec. 25 appointed its own staffer, Chief General Manager Yogesh Dayal, as an additional director on RBL Bank’s board for a two-year term. At the same time, RBL Bank said its Chief Executive Officer Vishwavir Ahuja will go on leave and Executive Director Rajeev Ahuja will take over as interim chief.
The power to attach assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act will come to a halt once the liquidation process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code begins, the Delhi High Court said in an order last week, Bloomberg reported. In PSL Ltd.'s case, Nitin Jain was appointed as the liquidator by the National Company Law Tribunal under IBC to administer the affairs and estate of the company. Subsequently, Jain got a summons by the Enforcement Directorate, which was investigating the affairs of the company under the PMLA. Jain challenged the ED's move before the high court.
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Neville Tuli-owned arthouse Osian's Connoisseurs of Art has been placed under bankruptcy proceedings, the Economic Times of India reported. The Mumbai bench of India's dedicated bankruptcy court admitted a plea by state-run lender IDBI Bank to put the company under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) after it defaulted on dues worth around ₹125 crore. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) also appointed Girish Sriram Juneja as interim resolution professional (IRP) to oversee its day-to-day affairs and revival plans.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conveyed to its central board that it favours a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, the Economic Times of India reported. The RBI made a detailed presentation to the board highlighting "serious concerns" relating to macroeconomic and financial stability as well as exchange management, according to a source. "The board was apprised of RBI's stance on the matter."The central bank also highlighted the challenge of regulating intangible assets that originate overseas.
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