Jindal Global Law Review

Corporate and Financial Laws

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 2, 2015

Issue Editors: Arjya B. Majumdar, Faiz Tajuddin
Editors' Introduction (PDF)

ARTICLES

1. Corporate governance in the energy sector
    Indrajit Duba and Neha Jaiswal
     Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
India adopted the policy of liberalization and privatization in early 1990s. The policy added stimulus to the Indian business environment. In order to achieve sustainable growth, dynamic functioning of the energy sector is necessary. A sound corporate governance mechanism is a proficient indicator for measuring efficient functioning of the sector. This paper attempts to assess the intricacies of the corporate governance mechanism within the sector in terms of its internal board structure, strategies of corporate functioning along with its financial performance.
Dube, I. & Jaiswal, N. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0018-z[/expand]

 

2. Banking reform in China
    Wen Si
    Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
Embarking on banking reform nearly four decades ago, China has made significant progress. This paper takes a closer look at banking reforms in China and reviews historical progress and efforts that the Chinese authorities have made. There are three phases of the reforms: 1979–1991 (Phase 1), 1992–2001 (Phase 2), and 2002–present (Phrase 3). China’s banking sector has been gradually transformed from a centralized, government-owned and government-controlled provider of loans into an increasingly competitive market in which different types of banks strive to provide a variety of financial services. The experience of China is interesting because the government both rehabilitated the existing state-owned banks and allowed the development of a parallel banking system.
Si, W. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0017-0[/expand]

 

3. Intermediaries as arbitrageurs: Revisiting the motivations behind overseas listing
    Pratik Datta
    Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
In India’s gradual liberalisation of capital accounts since the early 1990s, one of the first areas of reform was depository receipts. Depository receipts are foreign securities issued in a foreign jurisdiction on the back of domestic securities deposited with a custodian in the home jurisdiction. These instruments may be listed on exchanges or traded on trading platforms abroad (overseas or foreign listing). They may be used for capital-raising or other purposes. The Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and Ordinary Shares (Through Deposit Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993 (the 1993 Scheme) governed these instruments until very recently. In 2014 budget, ADR/GDR regime was liberalized to allow issuance of depository receipts on all permissible securities’. The government subsequently issued the new Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014 (the 2014 Scheme)—one of its first major financial sector reforms. This paper examines the host of opportunities that these reforms open up for Indian issuers and their implications on Indian financial sector.
Datta, P. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0016-1[/expand]

 

4. A review of financial reporting liability lawsuits in Singapore
      Pelma Jacinth Rajapakse
       Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
Accountants and auditors around the world have been subject to professional liability lawsuits, as a result of corporate collapses in the wake of the global financial crisis. Some of the reasons for these corporate collapses and bankruptcies have been related to breaches of contract, professional negligence, and the contravention of statutory duties by financial advisors and the failure of auditors to give a true and fair view of a company’s financial position. Auditors are subject to numerous rules and regulations in Singapore. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that have caused certified practising accountants and independent auditors in Singapore to be sued by their clients and third party users of financial reports. The answer to this question is of obvious interest to members of the public accounting profession in Singapore and around the world. The major purpose of this paper is to make that question more specific and to gather and analyse evidence that might provide answers. This paper has taken into account lawsuits brought against accountants and auditors in Singaporean courts over the past two decades (1990–2010). It focuses on two types of cases. The first type refers to those where the accountants and auditors were directly sued by their clients, and litigated in a court of law. The second type focuses on matters where the accountants and auditors were not directly sued but were summoned as witnesses or third parties in the litigation.
Rajapakse, P.J. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0015-2[/expand]

 

5. The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 and life insurance policyholders
     Mangesh Patwardhan and S. Uma
     Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
The insurance sector in India has long been an area that required a comprehensive legislative overhaul. This paper examines the recent amendments brought in this area through legislation. It is well known that insurance reform in India has followed a long and convoluted process spanning more than a decade, including a report by the Law Commission of India, a series of parliamentary standing and select committees and the use of ordinance powers. The paper explains the impact that the amendments have on nomination and assignment with respect to life insurance policies, the legal issues that arise in case of subsequent assignment, the nature of insurable interest under the new regime and the applicability of this framework to assignment of non-life personal insurance policies. This paper proposes a framework that would do away with current notions of nomination and assignment, instead adopting the twin concepts of beneficiary and transferee. In this manner, problems that arise from the dual nature of life insurance, as protection and property, would partly disappear once the legal regime is more closely aligned with the underlying economic rationale behind such instruments.
Patwardhan, M. & Uma, S. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0014-3[/expand]

 

6. SEBI’s authority to regulate global depository receipts, traded on overseas exchange: Supreme court’s analysis in Securities and Exchange Board of India versus Pan Asia Advisors Ltd. and Ors.
     Mandavi Jayakar
     Article (PDF) | [expand title=”Abstract”]
The recent verdict of the Supreme Court recognising Securities Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) jurisdiction to regulate matters pertaining to Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) emanates as a remarkable decision. The judgment although, is reliant on facts of the case, it clarifies the scope of SEBI’s territorial jurisdiction. It enunciates that even though GDRs are issued abroad entirely, they qualify as a form of securities and cannot escape SEBI’s jurisdiction. If a corporation deploys the GDR route to raise its foreign capital and in the process it manipulates the Indian securities market, adversely affecting the interests of investors in India, SEBI possesses the requisite authority to intercede and take coercive actions. With increased cross-border trading in securities, there is a risk of heightened abuse by entities, both Indian and foreign, that can have deleterious effects on the Indian markets. Therefore, this judgement comes as a respite for SEBI which enables it to regulate financial products even if they do not fall exactingly within its regulatory purview, as long as manipulation resulting to adverse impact on securities market is established. This case note thus, appraises this judgment as it appears to have commenced a novel legal doctrine.
Jayakar, M. Jindal Global Law Review (2015) 6: 255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-015-0012-5[/expand]

 

BOOK REVIEW

7. Corporate ownership and control: Corporate governance and economic development in Sri Lanka by

    Shalini Perera
     Cicek Gurkan
      (PDF)