Lines of credit for export financing permit limited commission for after sales service with prior approval and specific reimbursement terms.
Exim Bank provided Lines of Credit of USD ten million each to Zambia and BGK Poland to finance eligible exports, with specified last dates for opening letters of credit and disbursements. Shipments under these LOCs must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is normally payable, but the Reserve Bank may allow up to five per cent commission for exports requiring after sales service, payable locally by deduction and reimbursed by Exim Bank at ninety per cent of invoice value minus commission; prior approval is required.

Line of Credit for export financing extends Exim Bank support to Kazakhstan buyers with declaration and commission conditions.
Exim Bank's Line of Credit to Bank TuranAlem, Kazakhstan finances exports eligible under the Exim Policy; the agreement is effective from March 24, 2004 with last dates for opening Letters of Credit and final disbursement on March 23, 2006 and September 23, 2006 respectively. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is normally payable; RBI may permit up to 5% commission for exports needing after sales service, payable in Kazakhstan by invoice deduction, with Exim Bank reimbursing 90% of the f.o.b./c&f/c.i.f. value minus commission after prior approval. Directions issued under FEMA sections cited.

Filing Import General Manifest in advance: registration and EDI filing required with transitional relief for short haul movements.
The circular requires advance electronic filing of the Import General Manifest under Section 30 of the Customs Act, 1962, prescribes registration formats and Annexure A data capture for airlines, shipping lines and consol agents, removes bond/guarantee and relaxes contract proof at registration, grants system access subject to post verification by the nominated Commissionerate, provides transitional penalty relief and filing-time relaxations for listed short haul flights and voyages, treats domestic transshipment flights as short haul, allows post-arrival amendments subject to verification, and mandates manual filing where electronic systems are unavailable.

Shifting from Trade for Trade Segment to Normal Rolling Segment permitted where dual depository connectivity exists, with reporting required.
Where a company has established connectivity with both NSDL and CDSL on or before 31.12.2003, stock exchanges may shift that company from the Trade for Trade Segment to the Normal Rolling Segment provided there are no other specific grounds to continue trading in Trade for Trade. Exchanges must report the action taken in Section II, item no. 13 of the Monthly Development Report for April 2004.

Inclusion of barging charges must be treated as extended transport cost and added to assessable value under customs valuation rules.
Barging or lighterage charges borne by the importer to bring goods from outer anchorage to the landmass must be included in the assessable value as extended cost of transportation under the Customs Valuation Rules, because importation completes on reaching the landmass. The departmental 1% levy is for landing charges covering loading, unloading and handling at the place of importation on land and does not replace inclusion of barging/lighterage costs; mis-declarations may be proceeded against according to law.

Multiple service providers: single challan permitted if service-wise amounts and accounting codes are specified for payment.
Multiple-service providers may use one registration and file a single ST-3 return with separate service-wise information. For payment, a single TR-6 challan is permissible only if amounts attributable to each service and the relevant accounting codes are clearly specified in the challan; alternatively, separate TR-6 challans may be used for individual services.

DEPB rates amendment: targeted product entries revised, new entries and value caps added, and blended textile rate rule clarified.
Amendments to the Schedule of DEPB rates revise specific entries across Engineering, Chemical, Electronics and Textile product groups by changing DEPB rates, clarifying product descriptions, imposing or revising Value Caps, inserting new adhoc entries with limited validity and exporter specific applicability, and adding a General Instruction that blended textile products receive the DEPB rate of a constituent exceeding 95% by weight or otherwise the lowest constituent rate.

Fixation and modification of input-output norms updated, altering standard input-output norms and adding detailed annexures.
Director General of Foreign Trade amends the Handbook of Procedures, Vol.2 by fixing and modifying Standard Input Output Norms. Annexure A prescribes corrections and substitutions to existing norms (revised import quantities, substituted entries, added footnotes and additional import items). Annexures B-E add new normative entries and detailed input entitlement schedules for Chemicals and Allied Products (A 3306 to A 3317), Engineering Products (C 1955 to C 1966), Plastic Products (H 544) and Miscellaneous Products (K 167), including alternative import items and composition linked provisos.

Letter of credit refinancing facility enables export financing to designated Iranian banks with no agency commission payable.
Exim Bank made a 24 month refinancing facility available to the Central Bank of Iran from Feb 28, 2004 to Feb 27, 2006 to finance exports; specified Iranian banks are designated as Issuing Banks and certain Indian banks as advising/negotiating banks. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the credit and exporters must fund any required commission themselves. Authorised Dealers must notify exporters and refer them to Exim Bank for details. The directions rest on the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Release of seized jewellery against bank guarantee permitted, provided the guarantee covers full value and valuation is at release time.
Release of seized jewellery may be permitted against a bank guarantee per the Board's instruction; the guarantee must cover the full extent of the jewellery, valued at the rate applicable at the time of release, and release decisions must comply with that guarantee and valuation requirement.

Concessional duty for research imports may be allowed when an affiliated university issues an essentiality certificate.
Where privately funded colleges lack DSIR registration, concessional customs duty under Notification No. 51/96-Cus. may be extended on a case-by-case basis if the college's affiliated University-an eligible importer under the notification-issues an item-specific essentiality certificate for equipment exclusively required for research, and imports are for delivery to or use by that University (including in affiliated college laboratories).

Custodian appointment guidelines: earlier-custodian obligations continue for pre-existing ports and air cargo facilities; new guidelines not retroactive.
The Board clarifies that the new guidelines on appointment of custodians do not apply to custodianships notified prior to the reference cutoff date, including where custodianship or area remained unchanged, premises were transferred to a new custodian, or premises were extended under the same custodian; however, existing conditions and obligations being discharged by earlier custodians must be retained and applied to any new custodians, and field formations should issue appropriate public notices.

Unique Client Code requirement for FIIs to identify trades and strengthen market risk management before trading.
SEBI requires Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and their sub-accounts to obtain and use a Unique Client Code issued by the stock exchanges to identify trades and improve risk management; FIIs may authorise custodians to obtain UCCs and newly registered FIIs/sub-accounts must obtain UCCs before commencing trading, with UCC use to be made compulsory from a future notified date.

Offshore derivative instrument reporting shifted to monthly with a fixed filing deadline; nil reporting obligation removed.
Reporting of offshore derivative instruments by registered FIIs is changed from fortnightly to monthly, with reports due by the 7th of the following month beginning April 2004; "Nil" monthly reporting is dispensed. Annexure B is amended to add a column for the name and jurisdiction of the regulator of the offshore derivatives holder, reflecting insertion of Regulation 15A. Reports in the modified format must be emailed to the designated address. The instructions are issued under Regulation 20A and take immediate effect, and the revised format supersedes the earlier one.

Customs permit: loading non-container cargo from Shriram Jetty for export by inland barges subject to strict compliance.
Permission under section 8 of the Customs Act, 1962 allows loading of all cargo except containers from Shriram Jetty for export to Bangladesh by inland water barges, contingent on strict compliance with Public Notice No. 50/2003, the prior designation of the jetty as a Custom Area, and related customs provisions and port authority concurrence.

Straight Through Processing mandate requires institutional stock exchange trades to be routed via a centralised STP hub to ensure interoperability.
A mandatory requirement compels all institutional trades executed on stock exchanges to be processed through a Straight Through Processing (STP) system to remedy inter operability gaps among STP Service Providers; a Centralised STP Hub has been established by an exchange to facilitate this. SEBI will issue a detailed circular specifying process flows, roles and responsibilities of STP Service Providers and the Centralised Hub and a standard agreement. Exchanges are directed to amend bye laws to permit electronic contract notes with digital signatures as legal documents, and the mandate is issued under SEBI's regulatory powers to protect investor interests and regulate the market.

Single IEC per PAN requirement; online applications with digital signatures qualify for reduced licence fee, physical copy still required.
A single IEC per PAN is required for proprietorship concerns, with different concerns having the same proprietor and PAN listed as branches under one IEC and the IEC holder name matching the Income Tax PAN certificate; existing multiple IECs will be segregated per DGFT guidelines. Online application processing includes integrated digital signature and electronic payment; online applications with digital signatures qualify for a reduced licence fee, but physical copies and supporting documents must be submitted to Regional Licensing Authorities until the system stabilises, and online filings without digital signature do not receive the concessional fee.

External Commercial Borrowings rules: end use prohibitions and mandatory monthly ECB 2 reporting require borrower and AD compliance.
The circular prohibits use of ECB for working capital, general corporate purpose and repayment of rupee loans, fixes the Automatic Route ceiling at USD 500 million per financial year, mandates monthly submission of the ECB 2 Return certified by the designated Authorised Dealer within seven working days of month end (applicable to existing borrowers from January 2004), assigns primary compliance responsibility to borrowers with ADs certifying conformity, and authorises ADs to approve cost neutral repayment elongation for certain erstwhile small limit ECBs with lender consent, reporting such approvals to the Reserve Bank and in ECB 2.

Margin trading exposure limits clarified: brokers must limit exposure, obtain client UINs, and perform due diligence.
SEBI allows a further period for clients to obtain Unique Identification Numbers for margin trading, during which brokers must take undertakings and perform due diligence to prevent a client using margin facilities with more than one broker. Exchanges may continue existing settlement-shortage handling until their clearing corporations register under the securities lending and borrowing scheme. The arbitration clause in the model margin agreement is deleted. Revised broker exposure norms require that maximum allowable exposure stay within prudential limits, not exceed borrowed funds plus half of net worth, and that exposure to any single client not exceed ten percent of lendable resources.

Unique identification number requirement postponed to allow market participants additional time for compliance under regulatory powers.
The circular postpones the operative deadline for obtaining the Unique Identification Number (UIN) under the Central Database of Market Participants Regulations, 2003, replacing the earlier notified compliance date with a later date and indicating that a formal notification will be issued; it is issued under regulatory powers to protect investors and promote and regulate the securities market.