Buzzwords of 2012: GAAR to lobbying; Libor to fiscal cliff
US against at least three global banking giants, including UBS itself as also HSBC and Standard Chartered, revealed lapses in their outsourcing jobs to India.
Back home, the initial months of 2012 saw 'GAAR (General Anti Avoidanace) Rule' and 'retrospective taxation' creating a panic-like situation among the foreign investors and others, while 'Coalgate' became a household term amid allegations of irregularities in coal allocation to various companies.
Also, the government's move to kick up the reform process and opening up of the 'FDI' (Foreign Direct Investment) in certain sectors met with strong political opposition, while questions were also asked about feasibility of schemes like 'Direct Cash Transfer'.
During the year, a purely economic term like 'OFCD' also made much news after two Sahara group companies were asked to refund thousands of crores of rupees raised from an estimated three crore investors through their 'Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures', which are a kind of bonds that can be converted into other securities.
Towards the end of the year, 'lobbying' by US companies, including retail giant Wal- Mart, with their own lawmakers kicked up a political storm, as they were found garnerning support in their home country for pushing forward their business interest in India and elsewhere.
In the meantime, the government and policymakers back home were seen pushing for channelising more and more household savings into equity market, mutual funds and other financial instruments, rather than 'idle assets' like gold.
The concern has been that money spent on buying
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