The Justice Department announced today that it has reached an agreement with the New Jersey Judiciary to provide comprehensive language assistance services to limited English proficient (LEP) individuals.

The Justice Department today announced it has reached an agreement with the Rhode Island Judiciary to ensure that limited English proficient individuals will have access to timely and competent language assistance at no charge in all court proceedings, services and programs throughout the state court system.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which administers AmeriCorps, and the Department of Justice today announced “justice AmeriCorps,” a strategic partnership to increase national service opportunities while enhancing the effective and efficient adjudication of immigration proceedings involving certain children who have crossed the U.S. border without a parent or legal guardian.

The Justice Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Orange County Clerk of Courts in Florida to remedy violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The settlement resolves allegations that the Orange County Clerk of Courts failed to provide a blind attorney with electronic court documents in an accessible format readable by his screen reader technology, despite repeated requests. Indeed, a motion filed in one of his cases included over 20 exhibits, the majority of which were not provided in an accessible format for over four months

As Tunisia’s newly-elected parliamentarians take their seats, a number of democratic reforms await their attention. Amnesty International has already highlighted five key areas, including the state of emergency, security force abuses, transitional justice, the constitutional court, and the death penalty. To this list we would humbly add a sixth: reforming, if not abolishing, the military…

Russell Wheeler and Stuart Taylor join Walter E. Dellinger III of O'Melveny & Meyers, Ken Feinberg of The Feinberg Group, Theodore H. Frank of AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest, Mark Geistfeld of New York University School of Law, Gillian Hadfield of the University of Southern California, Lord Leonard Hoffmann of the Appellate Committee…

Congress affects the courts in many ways—funding, operations, jurisdiction. Which judges are confirmed has increasingly become dependent partly on whether Republicans or Democrats have control of the Senate. Based on the results of upcoming 2018 midterm, the balance of power in Congress will determine what will happen in the courts in the future. Watch Brookings…

Unnerving movements for debt mutual funds investors!

Just last week my colleague, Divya explained the fiasco at Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, which took a decision to abruptly wind down six debt mutual fund schemes, namely:

• Franklin India Low Duration Fund
• Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund
• Franklin India Credit Risk Fund
• Franklin India Short Term Income Plan
• Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund
• Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund

In all, the above debt mutual fund schemes had an AUM of Rs 30,854 crore as of March 31, 2020.

The fund house cited, "severe market dislocation and illiquidity in the fixed income space" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the reason behind the decision.

Investors in these schemes are now left in the lurch: they cannot sell (nor buy) these funds and will have to rely on the fund house to get back their hard-earned money. Investors will have to hold their investments in these schemes until liquidity is available to the mutual fund house by either selling securities in the fund's portfolio or receiving maturity proceeds.

Currently, a fact is, not just Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, but debt mutual fund schemes of many other fund houses are have a remarkable exposure to stressed assets.

According to portfolios disclosed on March 31, 2020, mutual funds collectively held Rs 1.38 trillion of exposure to debt securities issued by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). Approximately Rs 51,000 crore of the exposure in debt securities has a maturity profile of less than 3 months; and now, mutual funds fear that there will be defaults.

NBFCs and other corporate borrowers claim that they do not have enough liquidity to fulfil their obligations and have requested for additional time. Given that, rating downgrades from rating agencies look likely.

However, some companies are playing smart: they are approaching the Courts to prevent a rating downgrade, plus seeking a stay on sale of pledged shares. Of course, they are well within their right to approach the judicial authority or Courts and contest.

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But the capital market regulator, seems to be in no mood in offering them any leeway. On the contrary, the regulator is asking the mutual fund industry to act against the issuer of securities who are possibly carrying high credit risk; facing asset quality problems.

Delays in repayments would mean the creation of more side-pockets by mutual funds. And in my view, more the losses investors suffer, more frustrating it will be for mutual fund houses and their investors. Eventually retail and High Net-worth Individuals, particularly, will lose confidence and may not be keen to invest in debt funds.

If you are wondering what has gone wrong, here's everything you may like to know about liquidity, credit risk and the exposure of mutual funds to corporate debt in the present scenario.

If you remember, the capital market regulator had mandated large corporations to source at least 25% of their borrowings from the bond markets from the beginning of FY 2019. This move was expected to deepen Indian bond markets and reduces the stress on banks. Just a year later, the same move is proving fatal for companies that went to the bond markets to raise money.

Now that the COVID-19 lockdown has forced many business units to shut off temporarily or operate much below their optimal operational capacity with a skeletal staff, companies, including the large organisations that relied heavily on debt markets, are finding it difficult to honour maturity claims on Commercial Papers (CPs), Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), and Bonds.

They were hoping for an 'at-par treatment' with Banks when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered a moratorium period to borrowers. But the RBI circular came to them as a shocker. The devil was in the details.

On March 27, 2020, the RBI issued a notification allowing a three-month moratorium on all outstanding term loans and working capital facilities on account of disruptions caused by the outbreak of coronavirus. This circular did not cover around 10 thousand NBFCs, who mainly depend on CPs, NCDs, and Bonds for their funding requirements.

As far as NBFCs are concerned, the RBI has already provided them with a liquidity facility through the banking channel. The RBI directed banks to utilise funds infused under Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) facility to invest in 'investment-grade' CPs, NCDs, and Bonds issued by NBFCs. Also, RBI mandated banks to allocate 50% of Rs 50,000 crore of liquidity introduced by way of TLTRO 2.0 to small and mid-size NBFCs and small finance banks.

But NBFCs seemed not too happy with just liquidity and many of them are now approaching courts to prevent rating downgrades. This is not a best practice for the industry, although fund houses may be well within their rights to contest.

Recently, Indiabulls Housing Finance was successful in receiving the interim order from Delhi High Court, throttling any coercive action against the housing finance company for its inability to repay its bondholders. The Delhi High Court will hear the case further on May 19, 2020.

This has added to the worries of mutual fund houses that now fear other NBFCs will follow the same path.

The capital market regulator, only recently (a few days ago) following the three moratorium by RBI (due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic) has relaxed the valuation norms for debt and money market instrument held by mutual funds vide a circular dated April 23, 2020, wherein it states as under:

• Based on assessment, if the valuation agencies appointed by AMFI are of the view that the delay in payment of interest/principal or extension of the maturity of a security by the issuer has arisen solely due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and/or in light of the moratorium permitted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (vide notification no. RBI/2019-20/186, dated March 27, 2020) creating temporary operational challenges in servicing debt, then valuation agencies may not consider the same as a default for the purpose of valuation of money market or debt securities held by Mutual Funds.
  
  However, in the scenario, as stated above, if there is any difference in the valuation of securities provided by two valuation agencies, the conservative valuation shall be accepted.

But then what is the point of coming up with these valuation norms as an afterthought, and not in close synchronisation when the RBI came with its notification a month ago?

The damage now is already done and companies are anyways approaching the Courts to prevent a rating downgrade.

Let's say shares of a company are pledged and to recover the proceeds -- if they cannot be sold due to a court order -- then such lending would be as good as unsecured lending.

Also, why should that not be construed as an instance of deviation from the stated fundamental attributes of a debt mutual fund scheme? After all, mutual fund investors invest in debt fund schemes taking into account a certain level of risk. Change in the risk profile of a scheme is a change in the fundamental attribute/s.

According to India Ratings, NBFCs having the asset base of Rs 500 crore to 5,000 crore, largely fall between "A" and "BBB" rating categories.

The mid-path could be a decision on payment or deferring the payment in consultation with all stakeholders, including debenture trustees. The industry will require a blanket resolution because a case-to-case resolution approach is cumbersome and may create more chaos.

Unless the RBI takes a clear stance on NBFCs and other financial institutions, mutual fund houses are likely to feel the heat of redemptions. Suppose, there's no further statement issued by the banking sector regulator; mutual funds will have to be prepared to handle large-scale defaults, which might look inevitable. After all, a majority of NBFCs' customers are retail borrowers and they enjoy a moratorium on the EMI payment for 3-months. This has been the trickiest part for NBFCs.

While COVID-19 outbreak has been the genuine reason for the potential defaults this time, asset-liability mismatches of NBFCs are well-known. Many NBFCs have gone overboard with cheap credit available during stable market conditions. Their credit underwriting has been questioned widely. The industry has also witnessed belly-up instances such as IL&FS and DHFL. Many mutual fund houses have burned their fingers badly in such defaults.

At the time of writing this piece, to ease the liquidity pressure on mutual funds, the RBI today decided to provide a special liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore for mutual funds. Under this facility, the RBI will conduct repo operations of 90 days tenor at the fixed repo rate. This will be on-tap and open-ended, and banks can submit their bids to avail funding on any day from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays). The scheme is available from today i.e., April 27, 2020, till May 11, 2020, or up to utilization of the allocated amount, whichever is earlier. The Reserve Bank will review the timeline and amount, depending upon market conditions.

The RBI has stated further that the liquidity support availed under the Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds shall be used by banks exclusively for meeting the liquidity requirements of mutual funds by, 1) extending loans; and (2) undertaking outright purchase of and/or repos against the collateral of investment-grade corporate bonds, CPs, debentures and certificates of Deposit (CDs) held by mutual funds.

Having taken this measure, keep in mind that it does not make investing in debt mutual funds risk-free. Considering the prevailing investment environment, you should stay away from mutual fund schemes whose portfolio characteristic appears compromised. Also, avoid credit risk funds and corporate bond funds as they are likely to be more vulnerable amidst the financial crisis followed by COVID-19 pandemic.

As a thumb rule: Choose mutual fund schemes from fund houses that follow prudent judicious investment processes and stringent risk-management systems.

In these uncertain times, it would be wise sticking to liquid funds and overnight funds while considering debt funds.

Our friends at Quantum Mutual Fund have highlighted the secret behind their debt management strategy which has helped them provide safety and liquidity to investors when it comes to investing in quantum funds. Don't Worry, Quantum Liquid Fund always aims for Safety and Liquidity.

As with all financial matters, better be safe than sorry!

PS: If you wish to select worthy mutual fund schemes, I recommend you to subscribe to PersonalFN's unbiased premium research service, FundSelect.

Additionally, as a bonus, you get access to PersonalFN's popular debt mutual fund service, DebtSelect.

Each fund recommended under FundSelect goes through our stringent process, where they are tested on both quantitative as well as qualitative parameters.

Every month, PersonalFN's FundSelect service will provide you with insightful and practical guidance on equity mutual funds and debt schemes - the ones to Buy, Hold, or Sell.

If you are serious about investing in a rewarding mutual fund scheme, Subscribe now!

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Author: Rounaq Neroy

This article first appeared on PersonalFN here.

PersonalFN is a Mumbai based personal finance firm offering Financial Planning and Mutual Fund Research services.

Disclaimer:
The views mentioned above are of the author only. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Equitymaster do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader. Please read the detailed Terms of Use of the web site.

India's top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara misses playing badminton on the outdoor courts. Sporting action across the world is on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic and in India a nationwide lockdown in place till May 3 has imposed restrictions on movement of people.

Pujara, used to enjoy badminton outdoors apart from cricket. Now he plays with his wife or with his Saurashtra team-mate Jaydev Unadkat. "Usually when I am at home in Rajkot, we go and play badminton on weekends on proper courts. That is something I am missing," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Pujara as saying.

"With my wife - she wants to learn. At times if Jaydev Unadkat is in Rajkot, he is a decent badminton player, so I play with him," he added. Pujara also revealed that he is very competitive when it comes to playing badminton and he cannot let anybody win.

"No, no. I can't allow my wife to win. I can't allow anyone to win against me at badminton. That is not possible. I've been telling her that she has to get better at it and win that way. I don't want to lose to make her happy that she has beaten me. As a sportsperson your mentality is to make sure that the other person becomes stronger than you," Pujara said.

Pujara was supposed to be in the UK, playing for Gloucestershire, at this time of year, but all plans have been tossed away due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He had signed a deal in February to represent the county for the first six matches of the championship. He was set to become Gloucestershire's first Indian player after Javagal Srinath in 1995.

But with the first seven rounds of the Championship postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and international travel severely limited, he will be unable to fulfil his deal. The batsman was last seen in action during India's two-match Test series against New Zealand.

In the framework of a project with the Mexican Ministry of Economy, this report provides an overview of international experiences and best practices regarding the role of courts in the implementation of competition policy. It presents different institutional designs, the role of courts, courts specialisation and their benefits as well as their relationship with other government bodies and stakeholders.

In America, lawsuits are the way we make up new rules in a crisis

The tennis ace, 37, who is presently competing in the US Open at Flushing Meadow, New York, revealed she finds it 'really kind of painful' to leave the toddler she shares with husband Alexis Ohanian.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe watched on as reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo helped Milwaukee Bucks beat Charlotte Hornets in the first-ever NBA game to held in Paris.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West took their seats courtside as they joined a slew of famous faces for the 69th annual NBA All-Star game held at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday night.

Floyd Mayweather took time out of preparations for his latest fight to watch LA Clippers lose 123-99 to Toronto Raptors at the Staples Center with his son Koraun.

Floyd Mayweather was joined by a mystery female companion for the LA Lakers' clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The American boxing legend was courtside.

The touching moment where Coco Gauff's father delivers a rousing courtside speech moments before her maiden WTA title has been revealed.

Paramount Pictures are so concerned about the budget of Martin Scorsese's movie Killers Of The Flower Moon they're more than happy for either Netflix or Apple to release the film instead.

James watched from courtside as the Clippers scored 22 consecutive points during the second half of their 118-107 victory at STAPLES Center. The 33-year-old wore a blazer over a white hoodie.

The Lakers trailed the Sacramento Kings by seven with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter before outscoring them 18-4 the rest of the way en route to a 121-114 victory at the Staples Center.

LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony were all sitting courtside in Brooklyn on Wednesday night to watch Miami's game against the Nets.

The former Friends star was on a night out with pal Jennifer Meyer.

British ISIS fighters are set to go on trial in Syria from next month as the Kurds have grown frustrated of the prolonged legal battle over the extremists, after the UK refused to repatriate them.

Four-time married Richard Wilmot, 65, who lives on the Isle of Man, says he has asked the European Court of Human Rights to look at his case after he lost court fights and was criticised by judges.

Dominic Reece Bryham, 25, told Brisbane Supreme Court he was 'going through a bad time' when he got behind the wheel on April 4 in 2019.

Venus Williams was watching her sister Serena's doubles match with Sir Andy Murray at Wimbledon when she pulled out her camera.

The tennis ace, 37, who is presently competing in the US Open at Flushing Meadow, New York, revealed she finds it 'really kind of painful' to leave the toddler she shares with husband Alexis Ohanian.

The luxury facilities in the basement include a swimming pool, cinema room, a sauna, steam room, plunge pool, and sunken terrace, a gym, a bar and a wine cellar.

PRS Legislative Research summarises the key highlights of a report from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice titled Infrastructure Development and Strengthening of Subordinate Courts.

Shany, Yuval, author

Semple, Des, author

PricewaterhouseCoopers (Australia), author, issuing body

Chit funds and other such schemes are clearly a concern and all regulators should be more vigilant.

Dewey Library - BL65.H78 M43 2018

New York : Springer, [2007]

Online Resource

Online Resource

Dewey Library - K3250.S76 2019

Online Resource

Trial court vacates directive, appeals courts appear skeptical of legality

Trial court vacates directive, appeals courts appear skeptical of legality

Rotch Library - DS485.D242 F55 2019