Portfolio management services (PMS), catering to higher networth individuals (HNIs), are facing tough competition from emerging alternative investment funds (AIFs), evident from their dwindling client base. In May, the number of clients for the industry stood at 125,390, down 20,528 in two months, shows data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). "PMS managers also have a high active ratio, which means their portfolios are quite differently positioned and more actively managed, compared to the benchmark, which is also a highlight for long-term investors.
India Inc is staring at significantly higher compliance and governance costs, following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) latest tightening of disclosure norms and regulations around the filling of key positions, the materiality of information, and third-party transfers. Recently, the securities market regulator amended the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) to introduce a raft of changes that will affect how listed companies go about transparency and disclosures. The new framework will further empower public shareholders and soon move towards a 'comply or be penalised regime or comply or explain' in the case of high-value debt-listed entities.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has withdrawn its decision to change the expiry day for Bank Nifty derivatives contracts from Thursday to Friday. The move follows a "request" from the BSE, which settles its Sensex and Bankex derivatives contracts on Friday. The proposed change in Bank Nifty settlement was scheduled to be effective from July 6 with the first weekly expiry on July 14.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will shift the expiry of Bank Nifty derivatives contracts from Thursday to Friday, after smaller rival BSE did so earlier. The change, effective July 7, will apply to both weekly and monthly futures and options (F&O) contracts of the widely traded banking sector index. The first Friday expiry will be on July 14, 2023. NSE dominates the derivatives segment.
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), which is still awaiting regulatory approval for its initial public offering (IPO), is now planning to streamline the process of buying the unlisted stocks of the company, thereby reducing the time taken for such deals from about four months to just a week. The management of India's biggest stock exchange has affirmed that it is working to reduce the time taken. According to the analysts, certain approvals required at present from NSE for buying stocks, are adding to the processing time.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed stricter disclosure norms for certain foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to bring in more transparency and trust against the backdrop of the Adani-Hindenburg Research saga. Under the new norms, FPIs with an exposure of more than 50 per cent to a single group or with assets of over Rs 25,000 crore will be tagged as 'high risk' and will be required to provide additional information such as full identification of their ownership, economic interests, and control rights. A failure to provide these disclosures will lead to invalidation of the FPI registration.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is mulling doing away with the priority distribution (PD) model in Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and introducing in the regulation pro-rata rights (based on the ratio of their commitments) for investors. AIFs are pooled investment vehicles but certain schemes have been observed to be following a differential distribution model where one class of investors, often a junior class, share loss more than the ratio of their contributions in comparison to the senior class of investors. As the senior class of investors have priority in distribution over the junior class of investors, the profit distribution is done first to these investors while they are compensated for loss out of the residual capital of junior class investors.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has for the first time proposed to regulate online platforms offering fractional ownership in real estate, a model already popular in countries like the United States and UAE. In a consultation paper floated recently, the capital markets regulator stated that such fractional ownership of real estate assets was proposed to be brought as MSM (micro, small, medium) REITs under Sebi (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations. This model allows investors to own a fraction or a small share in a real estate asset like buildings and office spaces, which could include warehouses, shopping centres, conference centres.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed new regulations to deal with suspicious trading activities-a move that will empower the market watchdog to go after entities making unusual profits without any fundamental basis. The regulator has issued a discussion paper, inviting feedback on the draft of the Sebi (Prohibition of Unexplained Suspicious Trading Activities in the Securities Market) Regulations, 2023, which are aimed at curbing front-running, use of mule accounts, pump and dump schemes, and misuse of social media influencers. Currently, Sebi's Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP) and Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) Regulations deal with such activities.
New-age tech tools and 'mystery shoppers' are helping the country's top bourse stay ahead of the curve against dabba trading platforms and entities dolling out unsolicited investment tips. In the past one month, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has issued close to two dozen warnings and advisories against such activities. "We saw a rise of dabba trading or illegal trading platforms after the pandemic.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) - pooled investment vehicles catering to high net worth individuals (HNIs) - saw a 30 per cent increase in investment commitments during financial year 2022-23 (FY23). At the end of March 2023, the total investment commitments raised stood at Rs 8.33 trillion, up Rs 1.92 trillion from Rs 6.41 trillion at the end of March 2022. A commitment is the money clients are willing to put into AIFs.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering a proposal to allow mutual funds (MFs) to charge a fee based on their performance, said Ananta Barua, whole-time member of the markets regulator. He said the proposal is being reviewed by a working group formed to look into cost structures. "One working group has been set up which is going to review... One of the suggestions is that if any scheme or fund is performing well above the benchmark, it (fee) can be linked to its performance.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) investigation into the Hindenburg allegations is making slow progress when it comes to obtaining information from overseas regulators, particularly around ultimate beneficial ownerships of certain foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), said people in the know. "Establishing ultimate beneficial ownerships for FPIs is a very complex exercise. "Several jurisdictions allow omnibus structures where the end beneficiaries are not required to be captured or are based in some other geographies.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed the ban imposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Samir Jain, vice-chairman and managing director of Bennett, Coleman & Co (BCCL), his wife Meera Jain, and six others. BCCL owns news media organisations The Times of India, and The Economic Times. Last month, the regulator had refrained Jain from accessing the securities market for allegedly violating minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms in PNB Finance and Industries (PNBFIL) and Camac Commercial Company (CCIL), which are listed on the Calcutta Stock Exchange.
'It is like a chicken-and-egg situation.' 'All these product tweaks are innovative, but traders won't move unless there is liquidity.' 'And liquidity cannot be generated until traders move.'
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is discussing with mutual funds (MFs) a proposal on introducing new total expense ratio (TER) slabs linked to the total equity and debt assets by replacing the current ones that are linked to assets of an individual scheme. Senior MF executives confirmed that Sebi had held discussions on this matter with AMCs. Such a change is expected to lead to a lower TER cap for bigger asset management companies (AMCs).
Zaggle Prepaid, Cyient DLM, Healthvista India, Rashi Peripherals and Vishwaraj Sugar Industries have obtained the green signal to launch their initial public offerings (IPOs). The approvals come at a time when capital raising by way of IPOs has slowed to a crawl, with only four issues hitting the market so far this calendar year. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued final observation letters on their draft red herring prospectuses (DRHPs), which is akin to getting approval to hit the markets.
The market share of discount brokers - such as Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, and Angel One - has grown fivefold in five financial years, with more than half of the National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) active client trading coming through them, reveals a report by CLSA. For the first 11 months of 2022-23, discount brokers held sway over 57 per cent of active clients, up from 11 per cent in 2017-18. Moreover, the number of active clients on the NSE with discount brokers has grown from just 1 million to 19 million during this period. Active traders are those who have traded at least once in 12 months.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified stricter timelines of just seven working days for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to disclose vital information. This could include informing their custodians about any false or misleading information about the fund or disclosing any change in structure or common ownership, or control of the investor group. The new changes have been brought into effect from March 14 through a notification amending the Sebi (FPIs) Regulations.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are likely to seek from the finance ministry a six-month extension of the date for complying with the amendments to the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), citing implementation challenges. Sources said FPIs, through their custodians, were planning to approach the ministry, highlighting key concerns and seeking more clarification. The ministry, through a notification on March 7, lowered the threshold for reporting ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) for non-profit organisations and politically exposed persons to 10 per cent from 25 per cent.
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