Market regulator Sebi has ruled out participation of terror outfits in the Indian stock markets, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Sebi has given information that there is no evidence of the participation of terrorist outfits in the stock markets, Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The authorities do not try to manage or control movement of stock indices, he said. They have put in place systems and practices to promote a safe, transparent and efficient market and to protect market integrity.

To another query, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said equity derivatives are not in the list of permissible derivative instruments that may be transacted by banks as per the existing RBI guidelines.

Indian banks had exposure to the tune of Rs 127 lakh crore in derivatives as on December 2007, against Rs 56 lakh crore, he said.

Mutual Fund: Sebi has informed that 318 out of 566 mutual fund schemes with dividend option have declared dividends during 2007, Bansal told the house in another written reply. As on date, there are 122 vanishing companies, he said in written reply to another query.

In addition to action taken by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Sebi has issued orders against 102 vanishing companies and 391 directors and promoters, prohibiting them from associating in any way with the capital market activities and accessing the capital market for a period of five years.