Paper-wise ICSI Exemption for ICWAI Passed Students and vice versa

Exemptions

Paper-wise Reciprocal Exemption for students of ICSI and ICWAI (Revised Syllabus 2008 ):

Exemption to CS passed candidated in Papers of ICWAI	Exemption to CWA passed candidates in Papers of ICSI
Foundation Course            (4 Papers) - Complete exemption	Foundation Programme (4 Papers) - Complete exemption
Intermediate Course 1. Financial Accounting  (Paper 5) 2. Applied Direct Taxation (Paper 7)	Executive Programme 1. Company Accounts, Cost & Management Accounting (Module I, Paper 2) 2. Tax laws (Module I, Paper 3)
Final Course 3. Financial Management & International Finance      (Paper 12) 4. Indirect & Direct Tax Management ( Paper 14)	Professional Programme 3. Finance Treasury and Forex Management (Module II, Paper 3 ) 4. Advanced Tax Laws & Practice (Module III, Paper 6)

Enjoy Exempting...

Direct Receipt of Import Bills / Documents - limit increased to USD 3 lakhs

RBI/2008-09/149 A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 13 dated September 01, 2008

AD Category – I banks may make remittances for imports, where the import bills / documents have been received DIRECTLY by the importer from the overseas supplier AND the VALUE of import bill does not exceed USD 300,000 [erstwhile limit was USD 100,000], subject to the following conditions :

(i) The import would be subject to the prevailing Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
(ii) The transactions are based on their commercial judgment and they are satisfied about the bonafides of the transactions.
(iii) The importer is a customer of AD Category – I bank and the customer's account is fully compliant with extant Know Your Client - KYC / AML guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank.
(iv) AD Category - I banks should do the due diligence exercise and should be fully satisfied about the financial standing / status and track record of the importer customer.
(v) It is customary in that trade to receive import documents directly from the overseas exporter.
(vi) In case the AD Category – I bank has suspicious about the genuineness of the transaction, it should be reported through the Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) to FIU_IND (Financial Intelligence Unit in India).

SEBI amends Listing Agreement Clauses 16,19,24&41 on 4th September 2008

SEBI today amended equity listing agreement to give effect to the reduction of time period  in case of Rights issue as decided on the previous SEBI Board meeting and also in line with the circular issued on August 28,2008 amending the SEBI (DIP) guidelines and also made certain changes to existing clause 41 (Submission of financial results) based on the decision taken by SEBI's committee on disclosures and Accounting standards and also on the representations received from the various quarters :

Following clauses are amended :Clause 16,19,24 and 41.

1. Clause 16 & 19-:

Notice period regarding Rights Issues: The notice period for intimation of the record date to Stock Exchange (SE) reduced to 7 days in case of Rights issue and the notice period for intimation to SE regarding the Board meeting in which the decision regarding the Rights issue to be taken was reduced to 2 days from 7 days. The reduction in timelines would reduce the market risk faced by an issuer and ensure faster turnaround of money for investors. There are also certain amendments to bring homogeneity in the number of days for notice period and for record date in case of rights issue.

2. Clause 24:

“Fairness Opinion” of independent merchant banker:

To protect the interest of the investor, in case of any scheme of arrangement entered into by the company and to ensure proper valuation is done in those cases , the listed company as well as the unlisted company which are getting merged shall  be required to appoint an independent merchant banker for giving a fairness opinion on the valuation done by Valuers. Further, the “Fairness opinion” of the merchant bankers shall be made available to the shareholders at the time of approving the resolution under Clause 24.

3. Clause 41:

Submission & Publication of Financial Results: In order to bring more efficiency in the disclosures of financial results, it has been decided to modify Clause 41 of the listing agreement. The major modifications are as follows:

a. Time limit for submission of financial results to stock exchanges: A listed entity in addition to submitting quarterly and year to date standalone financial results within one month of end of the quarter may also submit consolidated financial results to the stock exchange within two months from the end of the quarter.

b. Publication of financial results: A listed entity opting to submit consolidated financial results in addition to standalone results to the stock exchanges shall publish consolidated financial results only.

c. Limited review report to be placed before Board of Directors: A listed entity would be required to place the limited review report on un-audited financial results before its board of directors / committee before submission to stock exchanges only if the variation (as defined in present Clause 41) between un-audited financials and financials amended pursuant to limited review for the same period exceeds 10%.

d. Submission of limited review report in case of last quarter: Where the listed entity chooses to submit un-audited financial results for the last quarter (instead of submitting audited financial results for the entire financial year within 3 months of end of financial year), the limited review report shall be submitted for the last quarter also.

4. Applicability:

Changes in Clauses 16, 19, 24 and 41 of the Equity Listing Agreement mentioned above would be applicable with immediate effect. However, with regard to Clause 41, the provisions under sub-clause (VI) item (b) relating to submission and publication of the financial results shall be applicable from the second quarter onwards for the current financial year.

You can access the full text of circular at http://www.sebi.gov.in/circulars/2008/amendmentslisting.pdf

Section 25 Companies as Business Correspondents (BC) to Banks

It has since been decided that banks can engage companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, as Business Correspondents (BCs) provided that the Section 25 companies are stand-alone entities or Section 25 companies in which NBFCs, banks, telecom companies and other corporate entities or their holding companies do not have equity holdings in excess of 10%.

Further, while engaging Section 25 companies as BCs, banks will have to strictly adhere to the distance criterion of 15 kms. / 5 kms, as applicable, between the place of business of the BC and the branch.

Click here for details.

[FEMA]import of Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium and Silver, Credit <= 90 days

It has been decided that Suppliers’ and Buyers’ credit, including the usance period of Letters of Credit opened for import of Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium and Silver should not exceed 90 days from the date of shipment. The revised directions will come into force with immediate effect.

AD Category – I banks should ensure that due diligence is undertaken and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines, issued by the Reserve Bank are adhered to while undertaking import of these metals. Further, any large or abnormal increase in the volume of business should be closely examined to ensure that the transactions are bonafide and are not intended for interest / currency arbitrage. All other instructions relating to import of these metals shall continue.

RBI/2008-09/147A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 12 dated 28th August 2008

Crop Loan - 80% Short Term Prodution & 20% Clean Credit Limit

A new simplified cyclical credit product for financing crop production while also ensuring year round liquidity for farmers, particularly in rain-fed areas of the country.

Simplified cyclical credit product for farmers

Please refer to paragraphs 138 and 139 of the Annual Policy Statement for the year 2008-09

Accordingly, each commercial bank as also RRB may select one rain fed district for introduction, on a pilot basis, of a new product for financing crop production whereby

(a) 80 per cent of the crop loan requirement of individual borrowers may be released through a short term production loan in conformity with the present norms / practices, and

(b) the remaining 20 per cent representing the ‘core component’ (expenses for land preparation, pre-sowing operations etc. besides self labour/ consumption) may be sanctioned as a ‘clean credit limit’ to ensure year round liquidity.

Please find the Notification here.

Banks should accept Cash Over the Counter

Acceptance of cash over the counter
It has been brought to our notice that some banks have introduced certain products whereby the customers are not allowed to deposit cash over the counters. Further it is also understood that these banks have also incorporated a clause in the terms and conditions that cash deposits, if any, are required to be done through ATMs.
2. In this connection, it may be mentioned that banking by definition means acceptance of deposits of money from the public for the purpose of lending and investment. As such, banks cannot design any product which is not in tune with the basic tenets of banking. Further, incorporating such clauses in terms and conditions which restricts deposit of cash over the counters also amounts to an unfair practice.
3. Banks are therefore advised to ensure that their branches invariably accept cash over the counters from all their customers who desire to deposit cash at the counters. Further, they are also advised to refrain from incorporating clauses in the terms and conditions which restricts deposit of cash over the counters.

Find Notification here.

[SEBI-ASBA] Self Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSB) list

List of Self Certified Syndicate Banks under the ASBA process
ASBA - Applications Supported by Blocked Amount

1. As on date, there are 57 banks registered with SEBI as Bankers to an Issue
under the SEBI (Bankers to an Issue) Regulations, 1994. In terms of the SEBI Circular no. SEBI/CFD/DIL/ DIP/31/2008/ 30/7 dated July 30, 2008 on Applications Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA), all these banks are eligible to act as Self Certified Syndicate Bank for the purpose of ASBA subject to their submitting a self certification to SEBI ,inter-alia certifying that they have undertaken the mock trial run of their systems with the Stock
Exchange(s) and Registrar(s) and have satisfied themselves that they have adequate systems/ infrastructure in place at their Controlling Branch/ Designated Branches to fulfill their responsibilities/ obligations as envisaged in the ASBA process within the timelines specified therein.

2. Once the banks submit this self certification, their names shall be included in
SEBI’s list of Self Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSBs) whereafter these SCSBs shall be eligible to accept ASBAs in public issues.

Find details here...

CS friends, now email your Queries, wonderful initiative by ICAI

SOLUTIONS
TO STUDENTS’ QUERIES THROUGH TOLL FREE MODE AND DIRECT
E-MAIL
An awesome
initiative by ICAI, by which many can be benefitted in the positive
sense. Use the facility.

The Board of Studies is happy to inform the CA students that the following facilities have been provided by the Board of Studies for facilitating quick solutions of CA students’ queries:

1. Toll Free Number : 1800-200-2501
2. Individual telephone numbers of respective faculty members
3. Individual e-mail i.d. of respective faculty members
4. Facilitating of answering through Gyandarshan Lecture Channel – Toll free number 1800-11-2345 and e-mail i.d.
gyandarshanbos@icai.org
(during studio timings only)
Students may ask queries of general as well as technical nature through toll free number (on Monday to Friday between 2.00 P.M. to 4.00 P.M.). Students are advised to use toll free facility for short answer questions. Queries requiring elaborate answers should preferably be addressed to the respective faculty members through e-mail.

CS friends can trouble, [these are very few], Trouble more following
http://www.icai.org/post.html?post_id=3218&c_id=219

On Tuesdays
giridharan@icai.org.in for Corporate & Allied Laws;

On Thursdays
nnsengupta@icia.org.in & nnsengupta@icia.org.in for Cost Accounting & Management Accounting respectively;
ashish.gupta@icai.org.in & zaidi@icai.org.in for Financial Management Queries;

On Fridays
priya@icai.org.in & ruchika@icai.org.in for Direct Taxes;
smita@icai.org.in & ashish.bhansali@icai.org for Indirect Taxes.

CS Chennai Inter Classes from September 5, 2008 [Company Secretary Executive]

Yes,

Considering the students requests and Introductory Session held on 27th August 2008 @ 0630 AM at Learn Labz, its decided to kick off CS Executive Program Sessions from 5th September 2008 till 15th November 2008 as per the SCHEDULE

Congrats for budding CS on this results. This is just the ICSI's evaluation of you and you can be much more than this !

Learning CS, as exciting ever.Keep Experimenting to Excel !

Submit your Registration Forms Now

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the First "CS Executive Students Sessions" of Learn Labz will be held from Wednesday, the 5th day of September 2008 up to 15th day of November 2008 at the Registered Office of Learn Labz - 128 Veeraperumal Koil Street, (Land Mark: Vivekananda College), Mylapore, Chennai-04 from 06:15 AM to transact the following businesses:
1. To Learn, Experiment and Excel with us the SCHEDULE

2. For such interesting learning sessions, our Labz SHALL accommodate 20 Students ONLY.

3. Learning Fee Rs.1,500/- Per Paper and Rs.4,000/- Per Module.

Contact Course Director: A.N.S. VIJAY @ +91 93829 35598 for any detail.

Experience the Theoretical Learning - the Experimental Way....

EPF online employees provident fund claim status

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a facility for online verification of status of the claim under the EPF.

The facility can be availed at http://epfindia. nic.in/indiaepf/ loginnew. aspx the user needs to select,

the State, the EPF office, Establishment Code, Extension code, if any and then enter the employee number to ascertain the claim status.

Last date for filing of applications and applicability of late cut, for Schemes under Chapter 3 of FTP, clarification thereof

As per http://164.100.9.245/exim/2000/cir/cir08/cir2708.htm
1. For exports made from 1-4-2006 till 31-3-2008 that have already been realized up to 31-3-2008, the last date for filing the application for obtaining benefits under Chapter 3 of the Foreign Trade Policy will be 30.11.2008, and if the realization is after 31.3.2008, then the last date for filing the application will be as per the provisions of Para 3.23.10 of HBP Vol. 1 (RE-2008) as amended vide Public Notice No. 64 (RE-2008) / 2004-2009 dated 14.8.2008.

2. Further, it is clarified that late cut, in terms of Para 3.23.2 HBP Vol. 1 (RE-2008) read with Para 9.3 of HBP Vol. 1 (RE-2008), shall be applicable for applications filed after the prescribed last date as above, even for exports made from 1.4.2006 till 31.3.2008.

This issues with the approval of the DGFT.