1.Breather for FIIs: MAT Assessments, Fresh Notices Put on Hold
To assuage concerns of foreign portfolio investors slapped with MAT demand, the government on Monday put on hold issuance of fresh notices and any further assessments on levy of this tax on such entities. Finance Ministry issued a circular to international taxation wings of the Income Tax department following constitution of a high-level committee headed by Justice (Retired) A P Shah, Chairman, Law Commission, to look into the issue of levy of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on capital gains made by FIIs in past years.
In the light of Finance Minister’s announcement, no coercive action be taken for recovery of demand already raised by invoking provisions of MAT in the cases for foreign companies.
– the circular said.
2.Right Mentoring Can Bring Women on Board – TOI
Corporate India needs around 2,000 women to comply with the law for mandatory women directorships. Surely that doesn’t seem such an impossible number, given also that a woman director can be appointed on as many as seven listed companies. Yet, despite that, 180 of the 1,456 companies listed on the NSE have not complied with the Sebi order even after the April 1 deadline.
Internationally , nearly one-fifth of the world’s top companies have no women directors at all. However, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the experience of boards that have women has been very positive.
The solution is in right mentoring.
Read the Times of India article here.
3.Another Plus for KV Kamath, to Captain Brics Bank – ET
ICICI Bank Chairman KV Kamath has been chosen as the first chief of Brics development bank. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government nominated the 67year-old banker, who’s also chairman of Infosys, to head the proposed multilateral bank. Brics sees the bank as a replacement for international development institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, regarded by many as pushing the political and social agenda of the West.
Read the rest of the Economic Times interview here.
4.Car Sales up 16% in April, Most in 30 Months – BS
A low base helped the Indian automobile industry report impressive domestic sales growth of 16 per cent in passenger vehicles, the highest in 30 months. Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales saw robust growth of 25 per cent as well. Sales of two-wheelers remained flat on declining motorcycle sales.
Data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) today showed sales of passenger vehicles grew to 217,949 in April from the same month last year. Sequentially, however, sales dropped 11 per cent from 244,395 vehicles sold in March.
The growth in passenger vehicles sales is driven only by Maruti, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota. Mahindra & Mahindra’s sales remained flat while General Motors and Ford posted declines of 35 and 26 per cent, respectively.
Read the rest of the Business Standard article here.
5.Is there an IPO Rush in the Making? - BS
There is excitement that the primary market is showing signs of recovery, notwithstanding the recent losses in the secondary market. The loudest buzz is around e-commerce, the sunrise sector. Investment bankers expect a number of e-commerce players to go public in the next one to two years. Many have raised substantial sums of money from private equity funds and need to provide an exit route to the investors by getting listed on the stock market.
There are about two dozen companies planning to raise nearly Rs 9,300 crore from the primary market through both IPOs and follow-on public offers, according to Prime Database. Of these, nine companies, including Lavasa Corp, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, Sadbhav Infrastructure Project and Manpasand Beverages, have got the nod from the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), to raise funds.
But does the market have an appetite for fresh Indian paper?
Read the rest of the Business Standard here.
6.Bonus Shares Bonanza by 2 Dozen Companies this Year - BS
At a time when analysts are concerned about the
weak financial performance of India Inc in the recently-concluded quarter,
companies have been rewarding shareholders by announcing handsome bonus issues.
Thus far in calendar year 2015 (CY15), as many
as 21 companies, including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra have
announced bonus issues in the past four and a half months, with five of them
making such announcements this month.
On Monday, Federal Bank, Relaxo Footwears and SRS announced bonus shares. While the boards of Relaxo Footwears and SRS have recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, or one share for every share held each, Federal Bank’s board will meet on May 16 to consider the issue of bonus shares.
Read the rest of the Business Standard article here.
7.SoftBank names Nikesh Arora President and Masayoshi Son’s Likely Successor – Reuters
Japan’s SoftBank Corp unveiled a management reshuffle on Monday, appointing investments head Nikesh Arora as president and naming him as a potential successor to CEO Masayoshi Son, as the telecoms conglomerate steps up its overseas expansion.
The move comes as Son and SoftBank are battling to make their 2013 acquisition of U.S. carrier Sprint Corp for more than $20 billion profitable. A sluggish Japanese economy is forcing the company to increasingly look overseas for growth.
8.Retail Loan Defaults Touch Historic Lows – DNA
When India Inc is giving a heartburn to banks with a steady increase of bad loans, retail customers are repaying loans on time. This has resulted in bad loans in retail segment touching historical lows.
According to Credit Information Bureau (India), the country’s leading credit information company, retail NPAs have dipped to their historical lows with delinquencies on home loans and other retail loans showing a significant fall.
Read the rest of the DNA article here.
9.Chennai-Born Pudur is Asia’s Wealthiest U-40
With a net worth of $4 billion thanks to his software firm Celframe, 37-year-old Arun Pudur, a Chennai native who now lives in Malaysia, has taken the title of Asia’s wealthiest entrepreneur under 40, according to a new wealth list that is otherwise dominated by the Chinese and the Japanese.
Pudur was ranked 10th in a March Wealth-X list of the world’s richest billionaires under 40, that included Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
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