Promoter reclassification - Family feud An area of concern

The Indian business landscape mainly comprises of family run businesses. Keeping in mind the close-knit joint family culture in the country, Indian regulators have been particularly cautious of family members owning and controlling a business together. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has, in Regulation 2(1)(pp) of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018, given a broad definition of “promoter group”, which includes any immediate relatives of the promoter and entities where such relatives have more than 20% stake. Being a member of the promoter group of a listed company entails rigorous disclosure and compliance obligations under various SEBI regulations. In fact, SEBI has in its Consultative Paper dated November 23, 2020, made a noting that there is a need for further clarification under Regulation 31 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (LODR), with regard to disclosing names of persons in promoter/ promoter group who hold even ‘Nil’ shareholding in the listed company.
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Prosecution under Black Money Act for inherited foreign bank accounts

The scourge of ‘black money’ has been a persistent issue for India, becoming a major political issue in the recent past. The problem of black money leads to challenges on multiple fronts, greatest of them being denial of revenue to the Government. The parallel economy created by black money deprives the government of its due share of individual income tax, which in turn leads to reduced funds available for much needed government spending and stimulus. Socially, the problem of black money gives rise to further corruption and enhanced class inequality.

Since coming to power in 2014, the current Government has taken up the issue of black money as a major point of reform and has been gradually escalating its efforts to bring black money, both in India and abroad, to tax. Some of the major measures include establishing the multilateral mechanism for Automatic Exchange of Information, information exchange mechanisms with various countries under the respective tax treaties, the demonetisation drive, enactment of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 (BM Act) and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
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