From the desk of MRC » RBI Circular

External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy – Liberalisation- Hotels, Hospital and Software

Mukesh Goel — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:57:08 +0000

RBI/2010-11/ 167 August 12, 2010
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.08

All Category – I Authorised Dealer Banks

Madam / Sir,

External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy – Liberalisation

Attention of Authorised Dealer Category – I (AD Category – I) banks is invited to para 2 (iv) of the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 46 dated January 02, 2009 relating to External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Policy.
At present, entities in the services sectors viz., Hotels, Hospitals and Software are allowed to avail of ECB up to USD 100 million per financial year under the Automatic Route, for foreign currency and/or Rupee capital expenditure for permissible end-uses. On a review, it has now been decided to consider applications from the corporates in the Hotel, Hospital and Software sectors to avail of ECB beyond USD 100 million under the Approval Route, for foreign currency and / or Rupee capital expenditure for permissible end-uses. The proceeds of the ECB should not be used for acquisition of land.
The modifications to the ECB guidelines will come into force with immediate effect. All other norms of the extant ECB policy relating to eligible borrower, recognized lender, end-use, all-in-cost ceiling, average maturity period, prepayment, refinancing of existing ECB and reporting arrangements would continue to apply in the case of ECBs availed of by the aforesaid sectors under the Automatic Route as indicated above.
AD Category – I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.
The directions contained in this circular have been issued under sections 10(4) and 11 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and is without prejudice to permissions/approvals, if any, required under any other law.

Yours faithfully,
(Salim Gangadharan)
Chief General Manager-in-Charge

pricing guidelines for transfer of equity instruments from a resident to a non-resident and vice versa

Mukesh Goel — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:29:15 +0000

In terms of Schedule 1 of the Notification, an Indian company may issue equity shares/compulsorily convertible preference shares and compulsorily convertible debentures (equity instruments) to a person resident outside India under the FDI policy, subject to inter alia, compliance with the pricing guidelines. Further, in terms of the A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No.16 dated October 4, 2004 and A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 63 dated April 22, 2009, general permission is available for transfer of equity instruments, by way of sale, from residents to non-residents (including transfer of subscriber’s shares) of an Indian company in sectors other than financial service sector (i.e. Banks, NBFCs, Insurance, Asset Reconstruction Companies, Infrastructure companies in securities market namely, Stock Exchanges, Depositories and Clearing Corporations, Credit Information Companies and Commodity Exchanges) from residents to non-residents and vice versa. NEW_PRCING_GUIDELINES

The extant guidelines have been reviewed in consultation with the Government of India and accordingly the pricing guidelines in respect of issue of shares including preferential allotment have been revised

Paragraph No.

Existing Provisions

Revised Provisions

2.2

Transfer by Resident to Non-resident (i.e. to incorporated non-resident entity other than erstwhile OCB, foreign national, NRI, FII)

Transfer of shares by way of sale, by resident to non-resident shall be at a price not less than

a) the ruling market price, in case the shares are listed on stock exchange,

b) fair valuation of shares done by

Transfer by Resident to Non-resident (i.e. to foreign national, NRI, FII and incorporated non-resident entity other than erstwhile OCB)

(a) where shares of an Indian company are listed on a recognized stock exchange in India, the price of shares transferred by way of sale shall not be less than the price at which a preferential allotment of shares can be made under the SEBI Guidelines, as applicable, provided that the same is determined for such duration as specified therein, preceding the relevant date, which shall be the date of purchase or sale of shares.

(b) where the shares of an Indian

2.3

Transfer by Non-resident (i.e. by incorporated non-resident entity, erstwhile OCB, foreign national, NRI, FII) to Resident.

Sale of shares by a non-resident to resident shall be in accordance with Regulation 10 B(2) of Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 03,2000 which is as below:

a) Where the shares of an Indian company are traded on stock exchange

i) The sale is at the prevailing market price on stock exchange and is effected through a merchant banker registered with the SEBI or through a stock broker registered with the stock exchange.

ii) if the transfer is other than that referred to in clause (i), the price shall be arrived at by taking the average quotations (average of daily high and low) for one week preceding the date of application with 5 per cent variation.

Where, however, the shares are being sold by the foreign collaborator or the foreign promoter of the Indian company to the existing promoters in India with the objective of passing management control in favour of the resident promoters the proposal for sale will be considered at a price which may be higher by up to a ceiling of 25 per cent over the price arrived at as above.

(b) Where the shares of an Indian company are not listed on stock exchange or are thinly traded,

i) if the consideration payable for the transfer does not exceed Rs.

20 lakh per seller per company, at a price mutually agreed to between the seller and the buyer, based on any valuation methodology currently in vogue, on submission of a certificate from the statutory auditors of the Indian company whose shares are proposed to be transferred, regarding the valuation of the shares, and

ii) if the amount of consideration payable for the transfer exceeds Rs.20 lakh per seller per company, at a price arrived at, at the seller’s option, in any of the following manner, namely:

A) a price based on earning per share (EPS) linked to the Price Earning (P/E) multiple ,or a price based on the Net Asset Value (NAV) linked to book value multiple, whichever is higher,

B) the prevailing market price in small lots as may be laid down by the Reserve Bank so that the entire shareholding is sold in not less than five trading days through screen based trading system

C) where the shares are not listed on any stock exchange, at a price which is lower of the two independent valuations of share, one by statutory auditors of the company and the other by a Chartered Accountant or by a Merchant Banker in Category 1 registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Transfer by Non-resident (i.e. by incorporated non-resident entity, erstwhile OCB, foreign national, NRI and FII) to Resident

Price of shares transferred by way of sale, by non-resident to resident shall not be more than the minimum price at which the transfer of shares can be made from a resident to a non-resident as given in para 2.2 above.

(b) where the shares of an Indian company are not listed on a recognized stock exchange in India, the transfer of shares shall be at a price not less than the fair value to be determined by a SEBI registered Category-I-Merchant Banker or a Chartered Accountant as per the discounted free cash flow method.

The price per share arrived at should be certified by a SEBI registered Category-I-Merchant Banker / Chartered Accountant.

Payment of Interest on Savings Bank Account on Daily Product Basis

Mukesh Goel — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:30:37 +0000

RBI/2009-10/339
UBD (PCB) BPD.Cir.No. 48/13.01.000 / 2009-10

March 4, 2010

Chief Executive Officer
All Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks

Dear Sir,

Payment of Interest on Savings Bank Account on Daily Product Basis

Please refer to our circular UBD (PCB) BPD.Cir.No. 7/13.01.000/2009-10 dated September 1, 2009 advising banks to put in place requisite infrastructure so that transition to the revised procedure of calculating interest on balances in savings bank accounts on a daily product basis could be implemented smoothly.

2. We advise that payment of interest on savings bank accounts may be made by banks on a daily product basis with effect from April 1, 2010.

Yours faithfully,

(A.K. Khound)
Chief General Manager-in-Charge

New procedure to open a Branch office in India by Foreign entity

Mukesh Goel — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:02:53 +0000

Contributed by : CA. Sudha G. Bhushan (sudha@mukeshraj.com)

Establishment of Branch (BO) / Liaison Offices (LO) in India by Foreign Entities delegation of powers

Application for opening Branch office/liaison office to be routed through Authorised dealer

The application in form FNC by the foreign entity (other than those engaged in insurance and banking) for opening of BO / LO in India should be routed through a designated AD Category – I bank.

Documents with Form FNC:

1. Copy of the Certificate of Incorporation / Registration attested by the Notary Public in the country of registration

[If the original Certificate is in a language other than in English, the same may be translated into English and notarized as above and cross verified/attested by the Indian Embassy/ Consulate in the home country].

2. Latest Audited Balance sheet of the applicant company.

[If the applicants’ home country laws/regulations do not insist on auditing of accounts, an Account Statement certified by a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or any Registered Accounts Practitioner by any name, clearly showing the net worth may be submitted]

3. Bankers’ Report from the applicant’s banker in the host country / country of registration showing the number of years the applicant has had banking relations with that bank.

The designated AD Category – I bank is required to forward the application/s, along with the relevant documents and their comments / recommendations to Reserve Bank of India.

Unique Identification Number (UIN)

From February 01, 2010 a Unique Identification Number (UIN) will be allotted to both the existing as well as new BO / LOs. Consequent upon delegation of powers existing BO / LO will also have to necessarily approach the Reserve Bank through their designated AD Category -I bank for their requests/references.

Permanent Account Number (PAN)

The BOs / LOs shall obtain Permanent Account Number (PAN) from the Income Tax Authorities on setting up of their office in India and report the same in the Annual Activity Certificate.

Submission of Annual Activity Certificate

With effect from February 01, 2010, the Annual Activity Certificate as at the end of March 31 shall be submitted, on or before April 30, to the designated AD Category – I bank and a copy to the Directorate General of Income Tax (International Taxation), Drum Shape Building, I.P. Estate, New Delhi 110002, [at present BO/ LOs are required to submit Annual Activity Certificate from their Auditors to the Central Office / Regional Office of the Reserve Bank, certifying that the BO / LO has carried out only those activities which are approved by the Reserve Bank]

Extension of validity period of Liaison Offices

With effect from February 01, 2010 the designated AD Category – I bank may extend the validity period of LO/s for a period of 3 years from the date of expiry of the original approval / extension granted by the Reserve Bank.

Upon expiry of the validity period, these entities have to either close down or be converted into a Joint Venture (JV) / Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS), in conformity with the extant Foreign Direct Investment policy.

Closure of Branch / Liaison Office/s

With effect from February 01, 2010, the work related to closure of Branch / Liaison Offices, hitherto being done by the Reserve Bank (Central Office in the case of Branch Offices and Regional Office in the case of Liaison Offices), shall be handled by the designated AD Category – I bank.

Cases which are not covered under the delegated powers will continue to be referred to the Reserve Bank, by the designated AD Category – I bank.

Eligibility Criteria for Establishment of Branch / Liaison Office in India

An application from a foreign entity to establish Branch / Liaison Office in India is considered on the basis of two criteria viz: basic and additional:

Basic criteria

• Reserve Bank Route — Principal business of the foreign entity falls under sectors where 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is permissible under the automatic route.

• Government Route — Principal business of the foreign entity falls under the sectors where 100 per cent FDI is not permissible under the automatic route. Applications from entities falling under this category are considered by the Reserve Bank, in consultation with the Government of India, Ministry of Finance.

Additional criteria

• Track Record

For Branch Office — a profit making track record during the immediately preceding five financial years in the home country.
For Liaison Office — a profit making track record during the immediately preceding three financial years in the home country.

• Net Worth [total of paid-up capital and free reserves, less intangible assets as per the latest Audited Balance Sheet or Account Statement certified by a Certified Public Accountant or any Registered Accounts Practitioner by whatever name].

For Branch Office — not less than USD 100,000 or its equivalent.
For Liaison Office — not less than USD 50,000 or its equivalent.

Applicants that do not satisfy the eligibility criteria and are subsidiaries of other companies may submit a Letter of Comfort from their parent company, subject to the condition that the parent company satisfies the eligibility criteria as prescribed.

Source: Source: -A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 23 /24