The Home Ministry has asked the Revenue Department to conduct a probe into the allegations of disproportionate assets against former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan. In a letter to the Revenue Secretary, the Home Ministry asked him to institute an inquiry through the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the investigative wing of the department.
India joined the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as its 34th member in June 2010. At present FATF has 36 members comprising of 34 countries and two organizations namely, the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. At the time of joining FATF, India gave an Action Plan to overcome certain deficiencies in a time bound manner.
India Inc raised over $ 2.06 billion from overseas markets in April through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), the Reserve Bank said. Around 55 companies raised over $ 1.54 billion for various projects through the automatic route, which does not require RBI or the government approval. Another $ 520 million were raised through the approval route, according to the RBI data.
In order to streamline the period of validity of registration for Common Proficiency Course (CPC), Professional Competence Course (PCC)/ Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and Final levels of Chartered Accountancy Course, the Council at its 303rd Meeting held on February 10-12, 2011decided as under: CPT students: Initial registration for Common Proficiency Course (CPC) is valid for 3 years.
Ministry has observed that some listed companies have shown abnormal figure of their shareholders in their Annual Return (e-form no. 20B) filed with the Registrar of Companies. It appears that the signatories of e-form 20B of above companies including certifying practicing professionals have not verified the figures of number of shareholders from the records of the company. It can also be inferred that by putting figure of only 1 (one shareholder) in a listed company, the practicing professionals have not discharged their duties prudently and are liable for professional misconduct.The signatory Directors and company secretaries of these companies are also liable for furnishing wrong information in the Form.
Taking a step forward against black money, the Finance Ministry has asked the Income Tax Department to launch immediate prosecution action in tax evasion cases wherein tangible assets and investments are located in foreign shores. The department has been asked to do away with the norm of taking permission from higher authorities to initiate legal action and begin proceedings against tax evasion.
Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow to seek his intervention in reducing taxes in the tourism sector. Sahay along with senior officials including four secretaries from the Ministries of Finance, Civil Aviation, External Affairs and Surface Transport will meet Singh to ensure rationalisation of the tax structure for development of the tourism sector in a coordinated manner with the involvement of all ministries concerned.
Market regulator Sebi is likely to make it mandatory for mutual fund players to declare their assets under management (AUM) and details of new schemes to ensure that retail investors take informed decision before investment. SEBI is working towards making MF industry disclose their AUM for a retail investor to understand. If you are making a particular scheme, it is important for a retail investor to know what has been the track record of the fund manager. We see no problem in disclosing that, Sebi chairman U K Sinha said at a CII meet.
The government has invited views of the stakeholders to revise the deemed export policy, aimed to avert the misuse of the scheme. Deemed exports refer to those transactions in which goods supplied to the users do not leave the country and payment for such supplies is received in any currency. Stakeholders’ comments would be accepted till June 28. The revision of the existing scheme was necessitated as there have been incidents of multiple interpretations of late.
The UAE has no plans to raise the 49 per cent foreign ownership cap for companies, a senior economy ministry official has said. Economy Ministry Undersecretary Mohammed Al Shihhi”s statement has dashed hopes of a company law that would allow overseas investors to fully own firms outside of the country”s free zones.
