Top headlines: Double digit growth for Apple India, new PMLA rules & more

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Tim Cook sees India at 'tipping point' for Apple as China pivot quickens

Apple Inc. chief Tim Cook singled out India on Thursday as pivotal for the iPhone maker, underscoring how the world’s most populous country is on the cusp of becoming both a major market and production base.

Cook, who presided over the opening of Apple’s first two Indian retail outlets last month, joined his lieutenants in mentioning India roughly 20 times on an conference call after unveiling earnings. The company posted record sales for a March quarter in India, reflecting its increasing reliance on the market to galvanize overall growth, Read more...

Lessors seek deregistration of 23 Go First planes to secure their assets

Lessors on Thursday urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister 23 Go First aircraft to secure their assets before the insolvency process begins.
 

While lessors opposed Go First’s plea for grant of an interim moratorium in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), they moved swiftly to protect their planes. A moratorium ordered by the NCLT prohibits institution and continuation of suits and recovery of assets by owners and lessors. Read more...

CA, CS handling client money in PMLA ambit; FinMin notifies rules

To further tighten its control of practising accountants, the Centre has brought within the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) their “financial transactions” such as operating and managing their client firms and trusts, and buying and selling business entities.
 

The Union finance ministry issued a gazette notification on this on Wednesday. Read more...

Safeguards for project-wise insolvency in real estate on the cards

Concerned about the possible misuse of its proposal to allow project-based insolvency resolution for real estate companies, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is trying to work out certain “speed breakers” to ensure there are checks and balances in the law, government sources said.  
 

The ministry in its consultation paper on Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) amendments had proposed that “when an application is filed to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) in respect of a corporate debtor who is the promoter of a real estate project, and the default pertains to one or more of its real estate projects, the adjudicating authority, at its discretion, shall admit the case but apply the CIRP provisions only with respect to such real estate projects which have defaulted”. Read more...

Apple India business grew in double digits YoY, set quarterly record: Cook

Phone maker Apple saw its Indian business set a quarterly record as it grew in double-digit year-on-year (YoY), said the company.

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple who recently visited India to open its first two stores in the country told analysts: “It was quite a good quarter for us, taking a step back, India is an incredibly exciting market. It's a major focus for us. I was just there, and the Dynamism in the market, the vibrancy is unbelievable. Over time, we've been expanding our operations there to serve more customers, and three years ago, we launched the Apple Store online, and then, as you just mentioned, we launched two stores just a few weeks ago, and they're off to a great start, one in Mumbai and one in Delhi.” Read more...