India

A hedge-fund founder at the center of a $1.2 billion legal battle between Indian education-technology company Byju’s and its lenders is staying outside the U.S. despite a court order to return, saying he fears for his safety, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. William Cameron Morton said in an interview that he left the U.S. rather than comply with a court order to divulge the whereabouts of nearly $540 million that Byju’s invested in his Florida-based hedge-fund firm, Camshaft Capital.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai on Thursday admitted an insolvency resolution application against NCR Rail Infrastructure (previously Arshiya Rail Infrastructure), and appointed Bhuvan Madan as the resolution professional for the company, the Economic Times of India reported. NCR Rail Infrastructure is an affiliate of BSE-listed Arshiya Ltd, which operates free-trade warehousing zones. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company had approached the tribunal seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company over a default on payment of Rs 71 crore.

The bankruptcy court in Ahmedabad has rejected Gujarat-based Express Group of Hotels’ revival plan for Neesa Leisure Ltd, which operates a luxury hotel chain under the brand Cambay, the Economic Times of India reported. The company has admitted liabilities of Rs 1,580 crore, whereas the resolution plan approved by the lenders proposed to give Rs 150 crore to them to acquire the company through the bankruptcy process. The successful resolution applicant had proposed Rs 250 crore towards capex and fresh funds, bringing the total value of the plan to Rs 400 crore.

India’s state governments should implement labor, land and other reforms that are “low hanging fruits” to help sustain the nation’s economic growth nearer 8%, a top economic official said, Bloomberg News reported. An “urgent priority” is for labor rules to take effect, India’s Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said in an interview on Thursday. The policies have been passed at the national level, and need to be implemented at the state level, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday tightened rules for credit and debit cards used for business accounts, Reuters reported. The RBI asked business card-issuers to put in place an effective mechanism to monitor end use of funds. Last month, the RBI had ordered Visa to stop using an unauthorized route to make business-to-business card payments which used fintech companies as an intermediary. The regulator on Thursday also said that card-issuers cannot share data of customers with outsourcing partners, unless it is "essential to discharge the functions" of the outsourcing partners.

Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT on Wednesday gave an ultimatum and said that if the issues between Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) and Suraksha group over Jaypee Infratech are not settled by the second week of April then it would proceed ahead, the Economic Times of India reported.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dismissed an application filed by Vistra ITCL to direct the resolution professional (RP) of realty developer Satra Properties India to include its additional claim of Rs 51 crore that would have taken its total admitted claim to over Rs 131 crore, the Economic Times of India reported. Vistra informed the bankruptcy court that the RP had partially rejected the lenders’ financial claim, which should have been admitted in its entirety.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday reserved its order in the matter related to Dublin-based aircraft lessor Aircastle Limited’s insolvency petition against budget airline SpiceJet, the Economic Times of India reported. SpiceJet’s counsel has cast doubt over the maintainability of Aircastle’s petition as the latter had filed a separate petition under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) against the Gurgaon-headquartered carrier. The counsel for Aircastle has argued that both petitions deal with separate cases of default by SpiceJet.

A small Florida hedge fund that allegedly helped Indian tech firm Think & Learn Pvt hide $533 million must reveal where the money is located or face possible sanctions from a federal judge on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in a Friday hearing dismissed an effort by the investment firm, Camshaft Capital Fund, to avoid answering questions about the cash. The missing money is at the heart of a fight between lenders owed $1.2 billion and Think & Learn, the education-tech startup founded by entrepreneur Byju Raveendran.