Court Uncourt Magazine - Volume VII Issue 8

In this issue

COVID-19, a pandemic with billions of people affected and millions of people being infected brought upon worldwide quarantine and lockdown. With having the coronavirus scare still alive in everyone, the bond yields are plummeting in the western markets, bringing down funding costs, and indeed promoting the Indian firms to mop up cheaper debt. Funding Indian corporates through debt has traditionally been a preferred mode of funding due to inherent advantages such as security creation and tax optimization for the lender as well as the borrower. Overall, the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) are a key component of India’s debt and the formal guidelines, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, specifying the borrowing structure have seen the ECB route gain more prominence as a preferred route, despite the challenges in the route for the parties. With the government streamlining or liberalizing the ECB procedures in order to enable greater access to international financial markets for the Indian Corporate, there is unequivocally more to come with more Indian companies lining up to raise via overseas syndicated loans. This edition of Court Uncourt crystallizes the workings of ECB now becoming the lifeline of the Indian corporate world along with deciphering the Securities and Exchange Board of India Portfolio Managers Regulations 2020. This edition also delves into answering questions related to importing and distribution of pharmaceuticals in India together with elucidating in answers to the queries of Securities Finance in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Thank you, and we hope you have an insightful read!