News digest: Bansal quits as CEO, promoters to sell stake in ZEEL, and more

Bansal will, however, continue to hold his stake in Flipkart, which stands at around 5 per cent. He would also remain on the company's board

Binny Bansal resigns from Flipkart over allegation of sexual assault

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal on Tuesday resigned as chairman and group CEO of the Walmart-backed e-commerce company with immediate effect, following an investigation into an allegation of “serious personal misconduct” against him. A Reuters report said the resignation stemmed from an allegation of sexual assault that dated back a few years. It quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying the complainant was a former Flipkart associate who was not with the company at the time of making the allegation. The news agency could not reach Bansal for comment. Read more

Essel Group to divest up to 50% of promoter share in Zee Entertainment

Subhash Chandra, a pioneer in satellite broadcasting in India, is likely to divest a chunk of his stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), India’s first home-grown private broadcast network.

The Essel Group, which holds 41.6 per cent in the media and entertainment company, is looking to divest up to 50 per cent of its promoter share (approximately 20.8 per cent of the whole) in the entertainment firm. At today’s value, the promoters' 41.6 per cent stake is worth Rs 175 billion. Read more

Govt to press hard to align RBI regulations with international norms

The Union government will continue to push the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to align its regulatory capital norms and the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework with Basel-III guidelines, an international regulatory framework for banks, in a crucial meeting next week.

In the regulator’s central board meeting, it will ask the RBI to ease provisioning norms for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to bring them in line with the Basel framework. Government representatives will also be present in the meeting on Monday. Read more

Remembering Stan Lee: A man as extraordinary as the characters he created

Stan Lee, who brought a modern sensibility to comic books and provided lucrative fodder for Hollywood as co-creator of such sympathetically imperfect superheroes as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men, and Iron Man, has died. He was 95.

Lee died on Monday in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. Read more

Sebi issues stricter disclosure regime for credit rating agencies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday issued stricter disclosure guidelines for credit rating agencies (CRAs). Under the new framework, CRAs will have to make nuanced disclosures on factors such as promoter support, linkages with subsidiaries and liquidity position for meeting near-term payment obligations.

The latest move by Sebi is seen as a fallout of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) crisis, which brought to light the shortcomings in the credit rating process. Read more