The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India has issued Press Note 3 of 2015 yesterday amending the Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular of 2014 with immediate effect to permit 49% FDI in the insurance sector under the Government route subject to…

The Supreme Court of India recently in Associate Builders v. Delhi Development Authority (2014 (4) ARBLR 307(SC)) dealt with some of the key issues involving challenge of an arbitral award in an arbitration seated in India and clarified the scope of ‘public policy’ under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”).

NTT DOCOMO had a 26% stake in Tata Teleservices, a joint venture with the Tata Group. According to the initial agreement, NTT DOCOMO was entitled to receive the higher of half the amount it invested in the joint venture or the market price of the shares. Prior to a notification issued on 15 July 2014 by the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), the pricing guidelines for exit from foreign direct investment with optionality clauses for unlisted companies mandated that the non-resident investor would be eligible to exit from the investment in equity shares of the investee company at a price not exceeding the price arrived at on the basis of ‘return on equity’ as per the latest audited balance sheet.

On 15 January 2015, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) notified the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. Some of the key features of the said regulations are:- the term “insider” has been defined as a ‘connected person’ or any person who is in possession of or has access to ‘unpublished price sensitive information’ (“UPSI”);

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has vide Press Note 2 of 2015 dated 06 January 2015, amended and revised the FDI Policy, with effect from 21 January 2014 with respect to the pharmaceutical sector pursuant to which DIPP has permitted investment in manufacturing of medical devices as defined in the said Press Note to 100 %.