-The Hindu Business Line There can be no denying the need for a legal framework to ensure that the likes of Saradha do not take the entire financial system for a ride. But that said, there will always be greedy investors, willing to be taken in by the tall promises of unscrupulous operators. The latter's task is made easier by loopholes in the law. Hence, Ponzi operators used the legal loopholes...

-The Hindu Business Line Chit funds, one of India's oldest indigenous financial institutions, are regulated by the Chit Funds Act, 1982, a central statute, and various State-specific regulations. Further, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates the operation of ‘collective investment schemes' (Collective Investment Schemes) through the SEBI 1999 Regulations (CIS Regulations). However, Section 11 AA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 specifically excludes a...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Supreme Court decision in the recent Novartis case has cleared the way for production of generic drugs in India, doctors have to prescribe cheaper alternatives to costly brands if patients with limited means are to benefit. What is being hailed as a victory in the struggle for affordable medicines in the country will actually be one only when there is a pro-patient slant to the...

-The Hindu The CBI's formal acknowledgment to the Supreme Court that, on the demand of Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, it shared the status report of its investigations on the Coalgate scam with bureaucrats in the PMO and Coal Ministry shows how deeply the agency stands compromised. The fact that the CBI Director has now assured the court that the bureau's future status reports "shall not be shared with any [member...

-The Hindu The spectacular failure of the Saradha Group domiciled in West Bengal but also operating in a few adjoining States reinforces certain important messages from past scams. The first lesson to investors and regulators alike is that it is still possible for unscrupulous promoters to design and operate Ponzi schemes built around promises of extraordinary returns that are clearly unsustainable. Such schemes depend upon a steady stream of fresh deposits...