New Delhi, August 28
Giving more teeth to SEBI to clamp down on illicit money-pooling schemes and other frauds, the government has notified a new law empowering the capital market regulator to pass orders for attachment of properties, arrest of defaulters and to access call data records.

The Securities Laws Amendment Act, which was cleared by Parliament earlier this month and amends all legislations governing capital markets, would also facilitate setting up of a special SEBI court to fast-track the investigation and prosecution process, including by granting approval for search and seizure operations in suspected cases of frauds.

The Act, which has come into force through a gazette notification dated August 25, is part of the government and regulators' efforts to tighten the noose around fraudsters in the wake of several cases of illicit money-pooling activities including by ponzi operators in various parts of the country.

The new Act has as many as 57 clauses to amend various sections of the SEBI Act and two other related legislations.

The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 6 and in the Rajya Sabha on August 12.

The notification comes more than one year after the first ordinance was promulgated in July 2013 to grant these additional powers to SEBI. The ordinance was promulgated for the second time in September last year, followed by a third ordinance in January, as a Bill could not be passed in Parliament at that time to grant permanent powers to SEBI.

With the new powers, SEBI can now act against all illegal money-pooling schemes involving Rs 100 crore or more, launch recovery proceedings, pass disgorgement orders for ill-gotten money and facilitate its return to identifiable investors, among others.

The market watchdog would have powers to seek call data records and other information from any person, company, bank, authority or organisation during its probes.

However, these powers do not include authority to tap phones and other electronic data directly.

Under the amended law, there is a dilution from the direct powers granted to SEBI chairman through as many as three ordinances in the past one year to authorise search and seizure operations and is being seen as a safeguard against any possible misuse of such powers by the regulator. Now, SEBI would need to take permission from the special court for search and seizure operations. — PTI

Mumbai, August 28
The Maharashtra Government has snatched major auto projects from Punjab after it unveiled major concessions in Value Added Tax (VAT).

Under the new policy, which came into effect today, auto projects worth more than Rs 1,500 crore would be granted the special category of ultra mega project. These projects would be eligible for concessions in VAT under which the set-off claim will be on gross sales basis instead of net sales basis.

The new ultra mega project category was put into motion after Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s trade show in Mumbai last year got the attention of top industrialists in Maharashtra.

State government officials say, even Madhya Pradesh was offering additional incentives to auto industries based in Maharashtra in order to get them to invest in that state.

According to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), the state government so far had only mega project categories for investments above Rs 500 crore. MIDC officials say, the ultra mega project category aimed to bring in large scale projects in the state.

Automobile companies have been demanding this concession from Maharashtra as a condition for staying on and expanding operations in the state. After granting this facility, Maharashtra today signed memoranda of understanding with major companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Volkswagen and Bajaj Auto to bring in investments worth Rs 11,500 crore.

While Tata Motors and Mahindras will invest Rs 4,000 crore each, VW has announced expansion of facilities worth Rs 1500 crore. All these projects will be at Chakan near Pune. Bajaj Auto will spend Rs 2,000 crore at its Aurangabad facilities.

According to sources, all major auto companies were in touch with the Punjab Government to set up projects in that state. Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had met several top executives from top auto firms during a trade show last year. However, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan asked these companies to pause a while before moving elsewhere while Maharashtra tweaked the VAT policy to draw really big-ticket investments in the state.

New Delhi, August 28
The Delhi High Court today quashed the notice issued by Punjab National Bank to the troubled Kingfisher Airlines and Vijay Mallya threatening to declare them as wilful defaulters in repaying a loan of about Rs 800 crore.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked PNB to first give the documents, relied upon by the bank to issue the notice, within a week and granted two weeks’ time to the airlines for filing its response thereafter.

The HC also rejected the bank’s reasons for not allowing the company to have a lawyer for putting forth its views in the proceedings initiated by PNB to decide if the airline was a wilful defaulter. Kingfisher could now have two advocates to argue its case before the committee that would hold the proceedings on September 22, it said.

It asked the committee to conclude the proceedings within six hours as the bank expressed the apprehension that the airline was trying to delay the case.

PNB had initiated the proceedings on the directive of RBI to public sector banks on July 1, 2013 for dealing with bad debts, known as non-performing assets.

New Delhi, August 28
The much-awaited minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 and a higher wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 for social security schemes run by retirement fund manager EPFO will be implemented from September 1.

It will benefit 28 lakh pensioners who get less than this amount at present.

The move to enhance the minimum wage ceiling for becoming a subscriber of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation to Rs 15,000 per month is expected to bring 50 lakh additional formal sector workers under the ambit of the body.

“The government has notified enhancement of wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 per month, fixed minimum monthly pension at Rs 1,000 under EPS-95 and enhanced the maximum sum assured under the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme to Rs 3 lakh,” EPFO’s Central Provident Fund Commission KK Jalan said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Rail stocks gain up to 5% as govt notifies FDI norms
Mumbai: Rail stocks on Thursday ended with as much as 5% gains after the government notified liberalised FDI norms for the sector, permitting 100% foreign direct investment through automatic route in several areas, including high speed trains. Shares of Texmaco Rail & Engineering that surged 14.26 per cent in intra-day trade trimmed most of the gains and finally ended the day with a gain of 4.80% on the BSE. Stock of Stone India jumped 4.99%, while Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineers climbed 4.84% and Titagarh Wagons (2.37%). — PTI

Samsung unveils smartwatch that can make calls
Seoul: Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled what it said was the first smartwatch capable of making and receiving calls without a mobile phone nearby, in the South Korean firm's latest effort to find a new growth driver. Rival Apple Inc is expected to launch its own device this year and LG Electronics on Thursday announced its new G Watch R smartwatch featuring a circular plastic OLED screen, a stainless steel frame and leather strap. — Reuters

Tata Sons appoints JWT for global brand campaign
New Delhi: Tata Sons, the promoter of major operating firms of the Tata Group, has roped in JWT as creative agency for its global campaign to promote the Tata brand. The global brand campaign will seek to present three key points about the Tata brand of a being global, trustworthy and good corporate. — PTI

BSNL launches festival offer in Haryana Circle
Chandigarh: BSNL has launched a limited period festival offer for the benefit of its GSM mobile customers in the Haryana Circle. Under the scheme, consumers will get full talk time on top up of Rs 100 to Rs 499 and 5% extra talk time on top up of Rs 500 to Rs 999. The scheme is valid up to September 21. — TNS