🤑 A tale worth billions

SEBI makes big moves, Firms offer workers some assistance amid COVID-19, and one new crypto makes headlines

May 12, 2021

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First up,

Market Snapshot 📈

Sensex: 48,690.80 (-0.96%) ↓

Nifty 50: 14,696.50 (-1.04%) ↓

Dow Jones: 34,269.16 (-1.36%) ↓

Nasdaq 100: 13,351.27 (-0.058%) ↓

Bitcoin: $56,199.65

Top Stories 📰

**1. SEBI is making some very important changes** 🏛️

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed some key changes in its 'Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR)' to ease some regulatory restrictions for listing companies.

Here's what's happening:

minimum promoters’ contribution of 20% should be locked-in for only one year from the date of allotment in the IPO, as opposed to previously set three years.
promoters' holding in excess of a minimum contribution of 20% shall be locked in for six months instead of one year.
pre-IPO capital held by non-promoters can also be locked in for six months instead of one year.

Additionally, the regulatory body has also suggested replacing the concept of 'promoter' and 'promoter group' with 'person in control' and ‘persons acting in concert’ as the former terms are wide-ranging and need to be revisited, given the growing number of private equity firms and institutional investors looking to take up substantial shareholding. This shift, which SEBI expects to be completed in three years, will likely have an impact on regulations governing Indian family-driven businesses.

Why it matters? This is the second time that SEBI has used its skin-in-the-game rule. Last week, the regulatory body introduced the same diktat for mutual funds, wherein key personnel of AMCs are required to hold at least 20% of their salary in their own mutual funds that will be locked-in for three years.

2. Firms give employees some 'healing time' amid second COVID-19 wave 🤝

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages India, some companies are temporarily halting all operations, and are providing unusual assistance to their employees.

Taiwanese company Feng Tay announced that it's shutting down operations for 10 working days to ensure employees’ safety, while Godrej Properties have declared an extended three-day weekend for its employees "to heal."

Lodha Group has announced that they’ll make salary payments of 12 months to the family of their employees who died while serving the company. Glassware firm Borosil has also promised to pay two years' salary to its deceased employees, along with paying for their children's education until graduation. Other companies, including Honda Motor and Suzuki Motor, have also taken similar actions.

On May 11 alone, India officially reported over 348,400 daily coronavirus cases and 4,200 deaths. The country has, so far, more than 22.9 million coronavirus infections, with the death toll exceeding 249,900.

Why it matters? Citing the abysmal mishandling of the coronavirus healthcare crisis by the federal and state governments, the Supreme Court has now asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to establish a task force to improve oxygen distribution across the country.

3. The quickest $45 billion made...ever?? 💰

There's a new cryptocurrency in town, and it's already worth $45 billion!

A digital token called the Internet Computer Price (ICP) is now valued at $45 billion, just one day after launching on several high-profile cryptocurrency exchanges. The token is now the eighth-largest cryptocurrency among the top 10 players, as per CoinMarketCap.com’s rankings.

So, what is it?

The Internet Computer is a blockchain developed by Dfinity, a Zurich-based non-for-profit organization, and Dominic Williams — who founded the project. The idea is to create a decentralized, scalable cloud-like platform that can help anyone — from software developers or content creators — to publish anything they want on the internet without using expensive digital platforms like Facebook and Amazon. With Internet Computer, users can create their own social media and other services that compete with the top players.

The project received mixed on Twitter, with users criticising the toke and calling it "Ethereum killer," while some proponents argued that it could be used to protect Ethereum.

Why it matters? Cryptocurrencies are the future! From Ethereum breaking records to Dogecoin's recent plunge after Elon Musk's SNL appearance, cryptocurrencies are a part of every conversation — online and offline. With the rise of the Internet Computer, the total market value of cryptocurrencies has shot up to $2.48 trillion from nearly $1 trillion in January this year.