The two companies said they have signed five new memoranda of understanding that further strengthen their strategic alliance and accelerate the development of key products for consumers in India and emerging markets. Under the initiatives, Mahindra and Ford will leverage their strengths in the utility vehicle space to co-develop a midsize sports utility vehicle (C-SUV), the companies said in a joint statement. The SUV will be built on the Mahindra platform and will be sold independently by both companies as separate brands, it added. Mahindra and Ford also agreed to evaluate co-development ... Read More

A majority of corporate entities that were struck off the government’s companies roster following demonetisation have not come back to claim bank deposits, which are to the tune of Rs 37,500 crore, an official in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity. The development reinforces the government’s belief that most of the companies struck off the company registry were likely paper companies used for activities such as money laundering. Under Section 248 of the Companies Act, about 2.97 lakh were deregistered by the government in a drive to weed o ... Read More

Markets regulator Sebi is considering to reduce the additional expenses charged by mutual funds by 15 basis points, a move aimed at increasing penetration of such products among investors. The proposal, based on an internal study by Sebi on mutual funds, will be discussed at the regulator's board meeting this week, senior officials said. As per the proposal, the additional expense of 20 basis points may be reduced to 5 basis points across all mutual fund schemes and this need to be reviewed every two years, they added. ... Read More

Telecom entities Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have announced their leadership team in the run-up to the merger. Last March, both telcos decided to merge themselves after their existence was threatened by the newcomer Reliance Jio. The new team includes Balesh Sharma (as CEO), Akshaya Moondra (as CFO), and Ambrish Jain (as COO), and a host of other executive and non-executive appointments. Until the new entity gets necessary approvals, the existing managements of the telcos continue to run the show. It's expected that the merger will be completed by May this year - nearly 14 months after ... Read More

Parliament today passed a key bill that will empower the government to fix the amount of tax free gratuity and the period of maternity leave with an executive order. The Rajya Sabha, which has failed to transact any significant business over the last fortnight due to protests by various parties, today passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill without discussion. The bill moved by Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar was passed by a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had given its approval to the important bill last week. The legislation will enable the government to enhance the ceili ... Read More

Axis Banks corporate banking head and deputy managing director have resigned, the Mint reported. The officials who resigned - though not confirmed by the Axis Bank as yet - are Corporate Banking Head Sidharth Rath and Deputy Managing Director V Srinivasan. Sidharth Rath joined the Axis Bank in 2001 and served the bank in various capacity such as senior vice-president, president-corporate banking and president-transaction banking. V Srinivasan joined Axis Bank as the Executive Director - Corporate Banking in 2009 and was elevated as a Director on the Board of Axis Bank in October 2012. Be ... Read More