It is to be noted that any transfer of shares to an outsider without complying with the procedure as specified in the articles for effecting transfer of shares will not be operative against the company. Even in the case where the procedure prescribed by the articles was not followed and such failure was not due to any fault on the part of the selling shareholder, the transfer to an outsider was held not to be effective. Transfer of shares without consent of holder of shares and without prior sanction of board of directors as required under articles of association of a private company concerned could not be held to be valid. [John Tinson Co. (P) Ltd. v Mrs. Surjeet Malhan (1997) 88 Comp Cas 750 (SC)].
30 August 2013
Prior permission of RBI in certain cases for transfer of capital instruments – (i) The following instances of transfer of capital instruments from resident to non-residents by way of sale require prior approval of RBI: (a) Transfer of capital instruments of an Indian company engaged in financial services sector (i.e. Banks, NBFCs, Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), Credit Information Companies (CICs), Insurance companies, infrastructure companies in the securities market such as Stock Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, and Depositories, Commodity Exchanges, etc.). (b) Transactions which attract the provisions of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares & Takeovers) Regulations, 1997. (c) The activity of the Indian company whose capital instruments are being transferred falls outside the automatic route and the approval of the Government has been obtained for the said transfer. (d) The transfer is to take place at a price which falls outside the pricing guidelines specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time. (e) Transfer of capital instruments where the non-resident acquirer proposes deferment of payment of the amount of consideration, prior approval of the Reserve Bank would be required, as hitherto. Further, in case approval is granted for a transaction, the same should be reported in Form FC-TRS, to an AD Category-I bank for necessary due diligence, within 60 days from the date of receipt of the full and final amount of consideration. (ii) The transfer of capital instruments of companies engaged in sectors falling under the Government Route from residents to non-residents by way of sale or otherwise requires Government approval followed by permission from RBI. (iii) A person resident in India, who intends to transfer any capital instrument, by way of gift to a person resident outside India, has to obtain prior approval from Reserve Bank. While forwarding applications to Reserve Bank for approval for transfer of capital instruments by way of gift, the documents mentioned in Annex-3 should be enclosed. Reserve Bank considers the following factors while processing such applications: (a) The proposed transferee (donee) is eligible to hold such capital instruments under Schedules 1, 4 and 5 of Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000, as amended from time to time. (b) The gift does not exceed 5 per cent of the paid-up capital of the Indian company/each series of debentures/each mutual fund scheme. (c) The applicable sectoral cap limit in the Indian company is not breached.
(d) The transferor (donor) and the proposed transferee (donee) are close relatives as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act, 1956, as amended from time to time. The current list is reproduced in Annex-4. (e) The value of capital instruments to be transferred together with any capital instruments already transferred by the transferor, as gift, to any person residing outside India does not exceed the rupee equivalent of USD 25,000 during the calendar year. (f) Such other conditions as stipulated by Reserve Bank in public interest from time to time.