Circular No. 70/IRDA/HLT/Coverage of HIV/2011-12, -The Authority has received representations from various stakeholders including public bodies and Government Authorities, to provide insurance cover to people living with HIV and to people in general including doctors and nurses etc. who are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, in Health Insurance policies.
In order to facilitate promoters to dilute/offload their holding in listed companies in a transparent manner with wider participation, it has been decided to allow the offer for sale of shares by promoters of such companies through a separate window provided by the stock exchange(s). The guidelines for the same are as under:
Circular No.03/2012 – Customs – The matter of correct classification of fused silica under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 was taken up for discussion during the Conference of Chief Commissioners of Customs on Tariff and allied matters held in May 2011. After examining the various entries in the said schedule and the technical aspects of the product in question, it was decided that the Chief Commissioners under whose jurisdiction the import of fused silica are taking place, shall furnish the technical details of the product to the Board; it was also decided to seek an expert opinion before arriving at a final decision regarding classification of the product. Board now clarifies that ‘Fused Silica’ is correctly classifiable under tariff item 32074000.
AD Category-I banks are advised that a further revision has taken place on January 17, 2012 and accordingly, the Rupee value of the Special Currency Basket has been fixed at Rs.71.456679 with effect from January 20, 2012. AD Category-I banks may bring the contents of this Circular to the notice of their constituents concerned.
On 18th June, 2010, the Authority had put up a draft in the nature of a Discussion Paper on the need to prescribe standards and procedures for Needs Analysis for sale of life insurance policies. Needs Analysis by the intermediaries and the insurance companies is necessary before effecting the sale of a life insurance policy in order to ensure that the product that is proposed to be sold is suitable for the prospect and meets his or her needs.
With a view to give more operational leeway to the AD Category-I banks, it has been decided to dispense with the requirement of prior approval of the Reserve Bank for opening and maintaining each Rupee Vostro account in India of non-resident Exchange Houses in connection with the Rupee Drawing Arrangements (RDAs) that banks enter into with them. Accordingly, AD Category-I banks may take approval of the Reserve Bank the first time they enter into the above arrangement with non-resident Exchange Houses from Gulf countries, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Subsequently, they may enter into RDAs, subject to the prescribed guidelines and inform the Reserve Bank immediately.
In view of the recent measures adopted to provide more flexibility to the Authorised Persons in selecting the location for their branches, it has now been decided to remove the criteria relating to increase in outreach and locational advantage while considering the applications for issuance of fresh licenses for Full Fledged Money Changers (FFMC).
Insurance companies are required to conduct detailed due diligence while taking insurance risk exposure to individuals/entities connected with countries identified by FATF as having deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime …
Vide SEBI circulars Cir/IMD/DF/14/2011 and Cir/IMD/FII&C/3/2012 dated August 09, 2011 and January 13, 2012 respectively, Qualified Foreign Investors (QFI) were allowed to invest in schemes of Indian mutual funds and Indian equity shares subject to terms and conditions mentioned therein, including opening a demat account with qualified Depository Participant. The eligibility criteria for a SEBI registered Depository Participant (DP) to act as qualified Depository Participant were provided in the aforementioned circulars.
Attention of Authorized Dealer Category-I (AD Category-I) banks is invited to the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2000, notified vide Notification No. FEMA 3/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 and the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 5 dated August 1, 2005 relating to the External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), as amended from time to time.
