The question of treating a person as an officer in default by ROCs when prosecutions are launched against a company and its directors for violations under Companies Act, 1956 has come up for examination time and again. The Department has issued various circulars in this regard so far. It may be recollected that the Department vide circular No.42/7/73-CL.II dated 20.9.1973 had clarified that a person appointed as a nominee director, whatever interest he represents or protects is responsible for the proper discharge of his obligations and fiduciary responsibilities under the statute in the similar manner as an ordinary directors. However, in the same circular, it was further clarified that nominees of institutions set up under Acts having non-obstante clauses can enjoy immunity from prosecutions.
The Reserve Bank of India has, from time to time, issued a number of guidelines/instructions/directives to banks on lending to Priority Sector. In order to enable the banks to have current instructions at one place, a Master Circular incorporating the existing guidelines/instructions/directives on the subject has been prepared and enclosed. This Master Circular consolidates all the circulars/mail box clarifications issued by Reserve Bank on the subject up to June 30, 2011 as indicated in the Appendix.
Foreign investment in India is governed by sub-section (3) of section 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 read with Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000, as amended from time to time. The regulatory framework and instructions issued by the Reserve Bank have been compiled in this Master Circular. The list of underlying circulars/notifications is furnished in Appendix. In addition to the above, this Master Circular also covers the area of ‘Investment in capital of partnership firms or proprietary concern’ which is regulated in terms of section 2(h) and section 47 of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, read with Notification No. FEMA 24/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000.
Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) is a quick and easy way of transferring personal remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in India. Only inward personal remittances into India such as remittances towards family maintenance and remittances favouring foreign tourists visiting India are permissible. No outward remittance from India is permissible under MTSS.
Please refer to the Master Circular RBI/2010-11/70 DBOD. No.Ret.BC.23/ 12.01.001/2010-11 dated July 01, 2010 updating instructions/guidelines issued to the Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) on CRR/SLR till June 30, 2010. The Master Circular has been suitably updated by incorporating the instructions issued on the subject up to June 30, 2011. A copy of the updated Master Circular is enclosed. The Master Circular has also been placed on the RBI website (http://www.rbi.org.in).
Please refer to our letter DBS.CO. FrMC BC No. 2/23.04.001/2009-10 dated July 01, 2010 forwarding therewith Master Circular on ‘Frauds – Classification & Reporting’. It may be noted that the Master Circular consolidates and updates all the instructions issued during the year since the date of the last Master Circular dated July 01, 2010. The Master Circular also incorporates instructions contained in certain clarifications issued by RBI to banks during the course of the year. The Master Circular has been updated as on June 30, 2011 and has been placed on the web-site of the Reserve Bank of India (www.rbi.org.in).
Please refer to the Master Circular DBOD.BP.BC.No.3/21.04.018/2010-11 dated July 1, 2010 consolidating all operative instructions issued to banks till June 30, 2010 on matters relating to disclosures in the ‘Notes to Accounts’ to the Financial Statements. The Master Circular has now been suitably updated by incorporating instructions issued upto June 30, 2011. The Master Circular has also been placed on the RBI web-site (http://www.rbi.org.in).
The guidelines for issue of new FFMC licence and renewal of FFMC licence, branch licensing, approval for appointment of agents/franchisees and Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Guidelines for Authorised Persons are given below. These guidelines are indicative and the Reserve Bank may take into account other relevant factors like increase in outreach, location, etc. while considering applications for licences.
Foreign Exchange Derivative Contracts, Overseas Commodity & Freight Hedging, Rupee Accounts of Non-Resident Banks, Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Dealings, etc. are governed by the provisions in Notification No. FEMA 1/2000-RB, Regulation 4(2) of Notification No. FEMA 3/RB-2000 and Notification No. FEMA 25/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000 and subsequent amendments thereto. This Master Circular consolidates the existing instructions on the subject of Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings at one place. The list of underlying circulars/notifications is set out in Appendix.
Direct investments by residents in Joint Venture (JV) and Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) abroad are being allowed, in terms of clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) read with FEMA Notification 120/RB-2004 dated July 7, 2004, (GSR 757(E) dated November 19, 2004), viz. Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004, as amended from time to time.
