BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Beyondgoals:Chasing India’sWorldCupconsumer INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Telcos seek custody of customer consent data HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2026 ECB hikes rate with Lagarde citing major energy shock FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 31 NO. 189, 22 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 73,832.55 ▼ 150.63 NIFTY: 23,161.60 ▼ 53.35 NIKKEI 225: 64,217.27 ▲ 38.00 HANG SENG: 24,249.29 ▼ 158.67 `/$: 95.76 ▼ 0.49 `/€: 110.45 ▼ 0.35 BRENT: $92.03 ▼ $1.07 GOLD: `1,44,730 ▼ `1,965 IN THE NEWS MARKETS PAGE 6 INDIA'S POSITION IN GEM FUNDS AT 5-YEAR LOW: CITI INDIA’S ALLOCATION IN global emerging market (GEM) funds is currently at a five-year low, Citi Research said in its latest report, reports Kushan Shah. The brokerage also noted that global portfolios remain close to a 20-year-high underweight position on Indian equities. » INSIDE « WORLD BANK RAISES INDIA GROWTH OUTLOOK PAGE 2 AIR INDIA CRASH REPORT DELAYED PAGE 4 DUTYWAIVER FOR HIGHER ETHANOL BLENDS PAGE 11 Minority group says kept in dark in Jindal Poly case IN A MAJOR turn of events after the Supreme Court referred the class action lawsuit against Jindal Poly Films to arbitration, minority shareholders have alleged they were kept in the dark about the plea for an out-of-the-court settlement, reports Anjana Therese Antony. ■ PAGE 6 TEHRAN ORDERS COMPLETE CLOSURE OFSTRAITOFHORMUZ Trump’s U-turn: Plan tostrikeIrandropped PARISA HAFEZI, JOHN IRISH & SUSAN HEAVEY Dubai/Washington, June 11 US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump called off planned military strikes against Iran on Thursday after negotiations reportedly reached the highest levels of Iran’s leadership, raising hopes of a breakthrough in efforts to end more than three months of conflict.“The timing andplaceofsigningthedealwill be announced shortly,”Trump announced onTruth Social. Thisisadramaticreversalof Trump’sstandearlierintheday when he said the US would hit Iran “very hard tonight” and wanted at some point to take Iran’s oil infrastructure hub Kharg Island, after strikes by DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT LENDERS HAVE SOUGHT clarity from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on whether domestic banks can leverage the foreign currency non-resident bank [FCNR(B)] deposit scheme by extending loans to depositorsthroughtheiroverseas branches,bankers said. This follows the RBI’s decision to allowdepositors to borrow from foreign banks for placing FCNR(B) deposits with Indianbanks,whilepermitting Indian banks to issue letters of credit (LoCs) to support such borrowings.“Itremainsunclear whether the guidelines permit overseas branches of Indian banks to provide leverage to their own customers.The current rules do not explicitly COMMISSION, IRANIAN PARLIAMENT Ihave...cancelledthe scheduledstrikesand bombingsagainstIran thisevening.Discussions andfinalpointshave been...approvedbyall parties...Timeandplace ofthesigningtobe announcedshortly both sides in the Gulf undermined a shakyceasefire. IraniansourcesandWestern officials, however, said indirect US-Iranian talks on a preliminarypeace deal had intensified. Iran will deliver a decisive, crushing, painful response to... any uncalculated (US) move Trump’s threat had come after the two sides traded air attacks onThursdayforthesecondsuccessiveday.“Atsomepointinthe nottoodistantfuture,wewillbe taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we havewithVenezuela,” he said Continued on Page 11 PM urges states to harness trade deals,AI FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 11 FLAGGING CONCERNS OVER El Nino,Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged states to strengthen water conservation and promote sustainable farming, while also calling for AI-driven skilling initiatives and greater efforts to leverage India’s trade agreegence (AI) should be »INSIDE« ments to create viewed as an opporSTATES opportunities for the tunity rather than a PITCH BIG youth, micro, small challenge and urged IDEAS FOR and medium enterstate governments to VIKSIT BHARAT prises (MSMEs) and equip people with investments. future-ready skills to PAGE 2 Addressing the harness the benefits 11th governing council of emerging technologies. meeting of the NITI Aayog, Referring to India’s the prime minister empha- recently concluded trade sised that artificial intelli- agreements with several Banks seek clarityfrom RBI on foreign deposit leverage CHRISTINATITUS & KSHIPRA PETKAR Mumbai, June 11 EBRAHIM AZIZI, HEAD OF NATIONAL SECURITY KEY QUESTIONS ■ Can overseas branches of Indian banks provide leverage to their own customers ■ Can a bank allow a client to borrow against an FCNR(B) deposit placed with it and then rebook that deposit ■ Earlier, under the FCNR(B) mobilisation scheme of 2013, overseas banks were permitted to lend to FCNR(B) account holders against a lien on their deposits address that scenario, and further clarification is needed,” saidaseniorexecutiveatalarge private-sector bank. The executive added that if such lending is permitted, the schemewould closelyresemble the FCNR(B) mobilisation programmeintroducedin2013.He »INSIDE« COMPETITION FOR FCNR(B) 6 DEPOSITS INTENSIFIES PAGE expectstheRBItoissueanadditional circular clarifying the matter.Anotherseniorofficialat a private-sector bank said the key driver of FCNR(B) deposit growthin2013wasbanksleveraging deposits themselves. Continued on Page 11 THE RBI POLICYTRILEMMA, WRITES SOUMYA KANTI GHOSH PAGE 8 countries, Modi encouraged state governments to create opportunities for the youth and MSMEs and to equip stakeholders to effectively leverage the benefits arising from these agreements and attract investments from partner countries, according to Niti Aayog officials. Continued on Page 7 Insolvencyboard putsfreshchecks onlenderpowers MANU KAUSHIK New Delhi, June 11 A SET OF changes to the rules framed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) imposes additional checks and balances on the committee of creditors’ (CoC) actions during the resolution process of bankrupt entities. Under the revised framework, notified through the IBBI (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations 2026,the CoC must now provide stronger justification for key decisions taken during the resolution process. For example, the lenders will not only have to consider fair and liquidationvalueswhile evaluating bids but also undertake a mandatory market discovery exercise,including a challenge mechanism, which was previously optional in many cases. Thechangeseffectivelysuggestashiftfromthelong-standing principle that the CoC’s commercial wisdom is beyond judicial review. Experts argue thattheamendmentsintroduce additional safeguards on lenders’ decision-making to ensure greater transparency andvalue maximisation. “IBBI is moving in the direction where the CoC’s commercial wisdom will no longer be sacrosanct.CoC will have to justify every decision. It may defeat the purpose of IBC to be managed by lenders (CoC) under the supervision of National Company LawTribunal (NCLT),” said Ashish Parvani, senior partner at Rajani Associates. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 ■ The insolvency regulator aims for greater transparency in CoC proceedings ■ Under new rules, CoCs have to give stronger justification for key decisions taken during resolution process ANTHROPIC CEO DARIO Amodei has called for mandatory testing and government oversight of advanced artificial intelligence models, highlighting that frontier systems now pose sufficiently serious cybersecurity,biological and national-security risks to warrant regulation similar to that applied to aircraft and pharmaceuticals. In a policy essay published on Thursday, Amodei said the AI industryhad moved beyond a phase where transparency andvoluntarydisclosureswere adequate safeguards. Instead, governments should have the authority to evaluate and, where necessary, block the CEO, ANTHROPIC Mythos proves beyond doubt thatAI models are nowtools of global and national strategic consequence. The cyberrisks that Mythos-class models presentwill not be the last thatwe must face The risks are clearlyhere.It is time to go beyond transparency to more serious and binding regulation ofAI »INSIDE« TCS, ANTHROPIC FORM PARTNERSHIP PAGE 4 deployment of advanced AI systems that present unacceptable risks. “Now the risks are clearly here,” Amodei wrote, adding that it was “time to go beyond transparency to more serious and binding regulation of AI”. The proposal marks a notableevolutioninthedebate aroundAIgovernance.Overthe past two years, several leading ■ IBBI has sought to give operational creditors a greater voice in insolvency proceedings ■ The framework around resolution process costs has also been overhauled NCLTadmits SBI insolvency plea against AnilAmbani FE BUREAU Mumbai, June 11 THE NATIONAL COMPANY LawTribunal (NCLT) onThursday admitted a plea filed by State Bank of India (SBI) seekinginitiationofpersonalinsolvency proceedings against Reliance Group ChairmanAnil Ambani over dues of about `1,200 crore linked to guarantees extended for loans to Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Infratel. A bench comprising Judicial Member Sushil Mahadeorao Kochey and Technical Member Prabhat Kumar commenced the insolvency resolution process against Ambani and imposed a moratorium on all debts for 180 days or until an order is passed on a repayment plan, whichever is earlier. Continued on Page 11 Anthropic CEO raises the alarm, seeks‘serious & binding’AI rules DARIO AMODEI, URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 11 THE TATA SONS board will meet on Friday amid continuing governance-related tensionsacrosstheTataecosystem, with discussions expected to cover capital allocation in key businesses, and other strategic matters,even as developments withintheTataTrustscontinue to attract attention. However, people familiar with the »INSIDE« matter said the issue of TATA SONS Tata Sons SEES 11.7% DECLINE IN Chairman N DIVIDENDS Chandrasekaran’s PAGE 4 tenure may not come up for a discussion at this meeting, as Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata is understood to be seeking additional clarifications.A lengthy discussiononthesubjectattheMay26 boardmeetingremainedinconclusive afterthe agenda ran out of time. Chandrasekaran’s current term ends in 2027. The board may review the long-pending issue of a potentialTataSonslisting.Thematter has remained under scrutiny since the company sought deregistrationasanupper-layer core investment company, a move that could eliminate the listing requirement. However, the proposal remains subject to regulatoryapproval. FAIR PROCESS Amodei calls for mandatory testing and govt powers to block risky systems RISHI RAJ New Delhi, June 11 Chandra term extension not onTata Sons board agenda AI firms, including Anthropic, have supported measures requiringdeveloperstodisclose safety practices, testing procedures and major incidents. Amodei wrote that while such measures helped policymakers better understand emerging risks,therapidimprovementin AI capabilities now requires a moreinterventionistapproach. Under Anthropic’s proposed framework, AI models above a certain computing threshold would undergo mandatory third-partytesting. Theevaluationswouldfocuson four areas: cybersecurity risks, biological threats, loss of control ofAI systems,and the ability of AI to accelerate research that could amplify those risks. Continued on Page 7 HYDERABAD