Attention of the Authorised Dealer Category – I (AD Category – I) banks is invited to Regulation 4 of Notification No.FEMA 22 /2000-RB dated May 3, 2000, viz., Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of Branch or Office or other Place of Business) Regulations, 2000, as amended from time to time, in terms of which, no person, being a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran or China, shall establish in India, a branch office or a liaison office or a project office or any other place of business by whatever name called, without the prior permission of the Reserve Bank. Attention of the AD Category -I banks is also invited to the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 37 dated November 15, 2003 which provides the guidelines regarding general permission to a foreign entity for setting up a Project office in India, subject to certain conditions.
a. Amendment to Clause 40A -In addition to the existing methods which listed company can adopt to achieve minimum public shareholding, the listed company may also achieve the minimum level of public shareholding through Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) in terms of Chapter VIII-A of SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, as amended. Further, sale of shares by promoters through stock exchanges shall be now carried out in terms of SEBI circular CIR/MRD/DP/05/2012 dated February 1, 2012.
As per the extant ECB procedures, requests for reduction in the amount of ECB, changes in the drawdown schedule where the original average maturity period is not maintained and reduction in the all-in-cost of the ECB after obtaining the Loan Registration Number (LRN) is required to be referred by the AD Category-I bank to the Foreign Exchange Department, Central Office, Reserve Bank of India for necessary approval.
We clarify that the revised guidelines issued vide our circular referred to above would be applicable to domestic savings bank deposits held by residents in India. Further, the interest rates applicable on the domestic savings deposit will be determined on the basis of end-of-day balance in the account. Accordingly, while calculating interest on domestic savings bank deposits, banks are required to apply the uniform rate set by them on end-of-day balance up to Rs. 1 lakh and for any end-of-day balance exceeding Rs.1 lakh, banks may apply the differential rate(s) as fixed by them.
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.
