Sebi also plans to examine if any comments made by company officials or the bankers could have misled investors.
the largest transactions of the year include the merger of Quality Care India and Aster DM Healthcare valued at $5.08 billion, followed by Bharti Enterprises' acquisition of a 24.5 per cent stake in the BT Group at $4.08 billion, and a family settlement transaction in the Godrej family at $3.5 billion.
'The book captures Rana Kapoor's hunger for real estate leading to bungalows in Delhi, Mumbai, London and other cities; the multiple companies -- over 100 -- to fund his family's various ventures; the attempt to game the system by showing lower non-performing assets,' notes Joydeep Ghosh.
The time-bound nature of the bankruptcy code, envisaging resolution within 180 to 270 days, would put enormous pressure on the existing judicial infrastructure.
Feature for feature, bank FDs are indeed better than debt funds today, mainly thanks to Ms Sitharaman, notes Debashis Basu.
Bank of America has been hit by a whistleblower complaint that its officials in Asia had shared "non-public information" with investors "before the bank sold hundreds of millions of dollars of stock", reports the Wall Street Journal.
A lot depends on how Srei shapes up under the new administrator and his team, which is critical for investors' interest.
Nominating Das, the Banker magazine, which announced the award, said India's banks have faced a series of challenges, from non-performing loans to issues around fraud. Faced with these challenges, Shaktikanta Das has taken steps to bring banking in India up to standard via a restrained approach to governance.
This, said Sitharaman, would remove the possibility of unauthorised communication "and consequent harassment", which was a cause of concern for bankers.
The draft digital personal data protection (DPDP) rules, which require banks to obtain explicit consent from their customers before using their data for purposes beyond the original intent, although is being followed in spirit, leaves no room for regulatory arbitrage, experts said. They said that the potential business impact is difficult to assess at this stage, but the formalisation of these rules will mean banks now need to establish clear data processing agreements with third-party entities to ensure compliance.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
Partha Pratim Sengupta, who will be taking charge as the MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank in early November, has his task cut out. The Kolkata-based lender, which converted itself from a microfinance institution to a universal bank, is in its 10th year of operation. The bank was able to cut down the share of the micro loan book over these years.
Eying benefits from digital banking, lenders are now looking at building Unified Recovery Interface (URI) for enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and getting good prices for properties of defaulters. This would be managed by PSB Alliance Ltd, a company set up by all public sector banks in the country. M V Rao, chairman, Indian Banks' Association (IBA), said: "Till now we had Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a product developed by National Payments Corporation Ltd (NPCI).
Canada's Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya has announced that he is running to be the next prime minister, hours before his Liberal Party announced that their next leader will be chosen on March 9.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
'A mule operates someone else's account to transfer illegal money.'
The prospective bidders of Haldiram Snacks Foods (HSFPL), a leading food firm, have sought clarity on the ownership of the brand as it is currently owned by different family factions. The Delhi and Nagpur families have decided to merge their operations and formed a joint venture to sell part of their stake. On the other hand, the Kolkata family runs its separate, independent operations. Bankers said prospective bidders of the company do not want any confusion over the brand in future. They have sought clarity over usage of the brand.
The Union Budget 2025-26, while promising a new framework for smoother mergers and acquisitions (M&As), has plugged a major loophole on carry-forward losses for a total of eight assessment years between amalgamating company and amalgamated company from the date of loss instead of date of the merger. For all mergers effected on or after April 1, 2025, the losses can be carried forward only for the residuary period (counting from the date of loss).
From specialised senior-friendly tours to redesigned hotel amenities, hotels are becoming increasingly attuned to the unique requirements of elderly travellers.
US investment banker JP Morgan has given 'overweight' rating on four Adani group bonds, comforted by ability to scale and grow using internal cash flows which reduces the scope for credit stress. In a report, JP Morgan gave 'overweight' rating on three bond issues of Adani Ports & SEZ and one by Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (a subsidiary of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd). It has taken neutral stand on other five Adani bonds and is underweight on one bond issued by Adani Green Energy Ltd.
PSB chiefs tried to argue that liquidity is in surplus in the system and the problem was related to lack of demand in the economy, instead of banks' reluctance to lend, but 'the FM said it is a perception issue that loan is not available, which we need to dispel,', reports Somesh Jha.
On October 31, Chaudhuri was arrested from his Delhi home by the Jaisalmer police for his alleged role in crippled Rs 200 crore Garh Rajwada hotel project in the city which was sold for Rs 25 crore to Alchemist ARC in March 2014. The project was financed by the bank in 2007.
Sanyal, 57, had joined the Aam Aadmi Party after quitting her job as the country chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, and contested the Lok Sabha election in 2014.
Industry leaders including Google's India-born chief executive Sundar Pichai on Wednesday mourned the death of Ratan Tata, saying the veteran industrialist cared about making India better. "He leaves an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and was instrumental in mentoring and developing the modern business leadership in India. He deeply cared about making India better," Pichai said in a post on X. Pichai recalled that his last meeting with Tata was at Google's office where they spoke about the progress of self-driving car Waymo.
Driven by a historic IPO boom that saw 63 issuers, led by new-age tech companies, garnering a whopping Rs 1.2 lakh crore ($16.6 billion) from the primary market, investment bankers laughed their way to the bank collecting $1.1 billion in fees in the year just gone by, making it the highest-ever advisory fees collected, says an industry report. At $16.6 billion, the initial public offers (IPO) set a lifetime record in 2021, bettering the previous record of $10.8 billion in 2017 by a wider margin. While the number of IPOs more than doubled from a year ago to 63, the proceeds were more than four-times the amount raised from the same period previous year and the momentum is likely to continue as more IPOs are anticipated next year, with mother of all issues, LIC issue, expected to boost proceeds next year much higher, it said.
Public-sector lenders Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Uco Bank are likely to raise funds through qualified institutional placement (QIP) next month. Punjab & Sind Bank is likely to follow suit later this financial year to meet the public shareholding norm of 25 per cent. When a public-sector unit raises funds through QIP, the money goes to the company because it involves issuing new shares whereas in the case of offer for sale (OFS), the money raised goes to the government because its shares are sold.
Mint Road, on December 21, 2023, flagged the role of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in strengthening the compliance culture in regulated entities (REs) and providing a consultative platform for policymaking. It also decided to issue an omnibus framework for SROs.
'Confidentiality needs to be maintained.'
Adani Group on Friday raised Rs 4,850 crore from the sale of 13.5 per cent of its stake in Fortune oil maker Adani Wilmar as part of a strategy to exit non-core activities to focus on main infrastructure business. The conglomerate, which last month announced its exit from Adani Wilmar by selling the bulk of its stake to a joint venture partner, had on Thursday announced sale of 17.54 crore shares (13.50 per cent equity) in the company on January 10 (to non-retail investors) and on January 13 (to retail investors) at a floor or minimum price of Rs 275 apiece.
In a bid to expedite the processing of initial public offerings (IPOs), the markets regulator will now seek additional information from lead managers (LMs) when they file draft documents. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) sent a letter to bankers, listing over two dozens of new disclosure requirements. The average time Sebi takes to clear the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) - a document companies must file before accessing public funds - has dropped to less than three months in 2024 (until May 31).
'IPOs have performed exceptionally well, with a notable increase in average ticket size from Rs 800 crore in the last financial year to around Rs 1,300 crore in this financial year.'
Bonuses are typically commensurate with deal activity in any given year. Investment banks, on average, pocket 2-3 per cent as fees for managing an IPO and 1.5-2 per cent for handling QIPs.
'In India, managers and the leadership almost glorify overworking.'
Siddharth Roy Kapur's RKF aims to raise around $50 million by offering up to a 50 per cent stake in the company.
Speaking at the Business Standard Banking Round Table in Mumbai on Monday, five of the six bank chiefs said 'no' when asked whether RBI should raise rates in the second quarter review of the monetary policy on October 25.
Bankers say debt resolution bills are coming high as resolution professionals are giving the human resources and audit/legal consulting to outside firms to plug all the loopholes.
Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years. BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of self-help groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas.
Pre-initial public offering (IPO) allotments have lost favour amid buoyancy in the market and increase in average float size this year. After hitting a record high in 2023, they have come to a halt, with just three companies opting for such placements totalling Rs 235 crore. This compares to eight deals worth Rs 648 crore during the same period of the previous year.
Ahead of the Union Budget, the banking sector, through the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), has made recommendations to the Union finance ministry on direct tax, including removing Section 194N of the Income Tax Act. According to Section 194N, tax deduction at source (TDS) has to be done if a sum or sums withdrawn in cash by a person in a fiscal year exceed Rs 20 lakh if no income-tax return (ITR) has been filed for the three previous assessment years, and Rs 1 crore if ITRs have been filed in all the three previous assessment years.
