Banking & Finance

Background and Facts A borrower who believes a secured creditor has gone too far has a forum, and it is not the civil court. The Supreme Court has held that a SARFAESI measure taken in good faith cannot be assailed, that a civil court has no jurisdiction over a matter the Debts Recovery Tribunal is empowered to determine, and that a claim for damages cannot be built until the Tribunal has first found the measure to be outside the Act. The appeal was brought by an asset recons

Background and Facts A buyer at a liquidation auction takes the asset with the statutory charges that sit on it. The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has held that a municipal first charge for unpaid property tax is not extinguished by the sale of the property in liquidation, and that the auction purchaser is liable for the arrears. The order in Indojewel Jewellery Private Limited v. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was reported on September 26, 2026. The c

Background and Facts An occupant of a corporate debtor's premises cannot convert a liquidation dispute into a tenancy dispute by asserting a lease. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has upheld an order requiring occupants to vacate two properties owned by a company in liquidation, holding that the liquidator may recover possession through the National Company Law Tribunal rather than through rent control proceedings. The order in Duke Fashions (India) Limited v. Pra

Background and Facts The Supreme Court has set aside a vehicle repossession carried out at one in the morning without the contractual notice, holding that the seizure violated the borrower's rights under Articles 14 and 21, and has directed the Reserve Bank of India to secure genuine compliance with its recovery guidelines by banks and non-banking financial companies. The judgment in Hari Dutta Sharma v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others carries the neutral citation 2026 INSC

Background and Facts A guarantor who has moved abroad, taken foreign citizenship and holds no assets in India is still within the reach of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The Chennai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has now said so twice in 2026, most recently in M. Gagan Bothra v. Senthil Kumar [CP(IB)/96(CHE)/2025], by an order dated September 7, 2026 admitting a personal guarantor insolvency petition against a permanent resident of New Jersey in the United St

Background and Facts The National Company Law Tribunal at Allahabad has admitted a corporate debtor into insolvency on the footing that a pair of linked agreements over cloud storage capacity amounted to a financial lease, and so gave rise to financial debt. The order in Achhru Ram Jindal and Others v. M/s Zebyte Rental Planet Private Limited was passed on August 20, 2026 and has been reported this week. Twenty six individuals entered into two agreements. Under an Asset Sale

Background and Facts The Bombay High Court has quashed a State auction at which a revenue official bought mortgaged land for one rupee, holding that secured creditor priority under Section 26E of the SARFAESI Act is not displaced by an attachment never followed by a statutory proclamation. The judgment in Indian Overseas Bank v. State of Maharashtra and Others [Writ Petition No. 10120 of 2022 with Interim Application No. 427 of 2026] carries the neutral citation 2026:BHC-AS:3

Background and Facts The Securities and Exchange Board of India launched a pilot programme on September 10, 2026 under which corporate bonds are issued as digital tokens recorded on a distributed ledger. The initiative, announced at the Global Fintech Fest and styled Demat 2.0, is the first structured attempt to place Indian corporate debt on shared ledger infrastructure operated by market infrastructure institutions. Three issuers had come to market by launch. REC Limited is

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), through A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 19 dated July 17, 2026, has consolidated and rationalized the regulatory framework governing Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) used for settlement of cross-border trade transactions in Indian Rupees. The circular supersedes five earlier circulars issued between July 2022 and October 2025, bringing the entire SRVA regime under a single, updated set of instructions effective immediately. What Are Specia

The Reserve Bank of India announced the early closure of its special Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Banks) deposit swap window on August 31, 2026, advancing the deadline by a full month from the originally announced September 30, 2026 cutoff. The facility, which permitted banks to raise FCNR(B) deposits of 3 to 5 year tenors from NRI depositors and swap the resulting foreign currency exposure with the RBI at concessional rates, attracted $52.3 billion in deposits by August 13

The Reserve Bank of India has issued the Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (Notification No. FEMA 3(R)(5)/2026-RB, dated 9 February 2026), effective from 16 February 2026. This amendment substantially revises the framework governing External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs), consolidating eligibility, end-use, maturity, cost, security, refinancing, conversion, and reporting requirements into a more structured regime. The chang

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has extended the implementation deadline for its Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) trading norms circular from September 1, 2026 to September 7, 2026. The extension was notified through Circular No. HO/47/11/11(1)2026-MRD-POD3/I/19839/2026 dated August 28, 2026, following feedback received from stock exchanges regarding operational readiness. Background: The June 15, 2026 ETF Norms Circular SEBI issued its original circular on June 1

Background and Overview The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on July 3, 2026, imposed monetary penalties totalling Rs 66.7 lakh on Bank of Baroda and GIC Housing Finance Ltd for non-compliance with regulatory norms relating to the Fair Practices Code for Lenders and Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines. The penalty on Bank of Baroda was Rs 63.6 lakh, while GIC Housing Finance was penalised Rs 3.1 lakh. The penalties were imposed following a statutory inspection conducted by the RB

Cross-border borrowing and lending is a critical component of India's foreign exchange regulatory framework. For companies seeking to raise capital from overseas sources, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) offer a viable and often cost-effective alternative to domestic financing. However, these transactions are governed by a comprehensive set of regulations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently introduced significa

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Fair Practices Code (FPC) establishes a comprehensive framework for ethical lending practices across banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in India. Originally introduced through the RBI circular dated May 5, 2003, the FPC has undergone significant updates to address evolving challenges in the lending landscape. For lending institutions, compliance with the FPC is not merely a regulatory obligation; it is a cornerstone of responsibl