Jul 10 2011 |
more articles from
|
Etisalat dealt another blow in India
By James Fontanella-Khan in Mumbai Indian authorities over the weekend accused five directors of Etisalat DB, the Indian joint venture of the UAE's telecoms operator, of alleged foreign direct investment and foreign exchange violations worth about $1.6bn.Balesh Kumar, the Enforcement Directorate special director who issued the notices, told the Financial Times that
Etisalat
had increased its stake in Swan Telecom - later renamed Etisalat DB - above 49 per cent without seeking regulatory approval. Under India's FDI rules for the telecoms sector, a foreign group seeking to acquire a stake greater than 49 per cent needs approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for the transaction.
"They didn't seek FIPB authorisation for this second deal, this is what we are contesting here," Mr Kumar told the FT. "They have 30 days to explain why they didn't contact the FIPB ... We have not fined them yet."
India's ED is the country's main money laundering watchdog and it has the authority to prosecute and charge penalties for wrongdoing committed in their operative field.
Mr Kumar said that they would be authorised to fine Etisalat if the UAE group failed to clarify its position and that of its executives in the probe.
This is the latest blow for Etisalat in India as the Abu Dhabi-headquartered company has been at the centre of a multibillion dollar telecom probe into the allegedly improper allocation of telecom licences to several companies in 2008.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, India's anti-corruption watchdog, has been probing whether government officials were bribed in 2008 by companies seeking to secure mobile licences at undervalued prices.
The investigation, which started in 2009, was bolstered after an official audit in November alleged that irregularities were committed by the country's telecoms ministry during the allocation of 2G licences, costing the exchequer $39bn.
A former Indian telecoms minister, Andimuthu Raja, and three of his aides, were arrested last February amid allegations of favouring some companies when allocating licences in 2008. All deny wrongdoing.
Shahid Balwa, the vice-chairman of the Indian joint venture, was also arrested in February in connection with the investigation.
Mr Balwa was one of the five directors of Etisalat DB who received a notice from the ED. The other four include two Indian nationals, Vinod Goenka and AS Salauddin, and two UAE nationals, Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar and Abdul Al Haddad.
Messrs Salauddin, Julfar and Haddad are based in the UAE.
Etisalat has denied any wrongdoing. "Neither Etisalat nor Etisalat DB have received any official communication and is therefore unable to comment at this time. Etisalat wishes to reiterate it always abides by the laws and regulations of the markets in which it invests," the group said in a statement to the FT.
© Financial Times 2011
Zawya Comment Policy
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Copyright © 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. |
provided by www.zawya.com |
Post Your Comment