The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has proposed key exemptions to the current listing framework and measures for setting up holding companies (holdcos) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to encourage domestic startups list at GIFT City, the country's only international financial services centre (IFSC). Under the current framework, to be eligible to list on IFSC exchanges, an issuing company should have operating revenue of at least $20 million in the preceding financial year and average pre-tax profits of at least $1 million during the preceding three financial years. An expert committee has noted these conditions have acted as hurdles to listing new-age companies, and they need a relook.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its January 3 verdict by which it refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group to a special investigation team or the CBI. In a significant win for the Adani Group, the apex court had declined to order a CBI or SIT probe and said in its judgement that market regulator Sebi was conducting a "comprehensive investigation" into the allegations and its conduct "inspires confidence".
The exchange will unveil a ticker showing live quotes and news flashing on a huge video screen.
Fundraising via the initial public offering (IPO) route by companies may touch Rs 1 trillion in financial year 2024-25 (FY25), according to a recent note by Pantomath Group - a mid-market investment bank. During the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), 76 companies tapped the markets through mainboard IPOs, Pantomath said, raising nearly Rs 62,862 crore. This is a 21 per cent rise compared to FY23, the note added.
The government is contemplating changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to deal with environmental claims and liabilities of defaulting companies to make the law future-ready and meet climate action goals, sources told Business Standard. Currently, the IBC has various categories of claims and creditors, including those related to environmental liabilities.
From the enactment of the capital control Act to the recognition of the BSE as a stock exchange and the infamous Harshad Mehta scam, here are the 18 biggest events for stock markets from 1947 to 1993.
Billionaire banker Uday Kotak founded bank as well as brokerage created and oversaw an offshore fund used by an unnamed investor to profit from a plunge in Adani shares that followed a damning Hindenburg report, the US short seller said on Tuesday. Hindenburg Research, which had in a January 2023 report alleged stock market manipulations and accounting fraud at the Adani group, said it has received a show cause notice from the Indian markets regulator Sebi over gains made from betting on the conglomerate's shares.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday warned investors not to fall prey to investment plans with guaranteed returns offered by Suraj Mourya associated with "Aimers Trader". The exchange pointed out that these entities are not registered either as a member or authorised person of any registered member of the NSE. The cautionary statement comes after the NSE noticed that Suraj Mourya associated with Aimers Trader was offering to handle trading accounts of investors by asking them to share their user identification (user ID) and password.
People in full-time jobs should especially avoid intraday trading as it results in loss of focus and affects performance.
Bharti Global, the international investment arm of Bharti Enterprises, has decided to buy 24.5 per cent equity in BT Group - a move that will make the Indian conglomerate the biggest shareholder in the UK's second-largest telecom company both in terms of market value and subscriber count. The shares are being purchased from billionaire Patrick Drahi's Altice UK through a combination of cash and debt .
The mystery surrounding the alleged fund diversion from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) by founders Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka has thickened with speculations of an amount multiple times higher than that cited by the ex-parte interim order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) dated June 12, 2023. While Zee shares witnessed a fresh selloff on Wednesday, news reports of accounting fraud left investors guessing about the hole in the media broadcaster's books. An order by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2023 had clearly hinted that Sebi's investigation had found a deeper rout.
There is a need for further focus and strengthening of guidelines.
Sebi on Wednesday barred Kishore Biyani and certain other promoters of Future Retail Ltd from the securities market for one year for indulging in insider trading in the shares of the company. Apart from Kishore Biyani, who was the CMD and promoter of Future Retail Ltd (FRL), others facing ban are Future Corporate Resources Pvt Ltd, Anil Biyani and FCRL Employee Welfare Trust. In addition, the regulator has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on Kishore Biyani, Anil Biyani and Future Corporate Resources. Besides, they have been asked to disgorge Rs 17.78 crore for the wrongful gains made by them.
As many as 5,532 complaints were received by the regulator in January, an 80 per cent increase over the number of complaints filed in the previous month.
The initial public offerings (IPOs) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hit a new high in 2023-2024 (FY24). In this financial year, data from the Prime Database showed that 190 companies raised Rs 5,579 crore through the SME IPO route. This financial year's tally bettered the fundraising in the previous financial year when 125 companies raised Rs 2,235 crore.
The CBI on Friday questioned former CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in view of fresh facts emerging in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged abuse of co-location facility in the NSE, officials said. The agency has also opened look out circulars against Ramkrishna, another former CEO Ravi Narain and former COO Anand Subramanian to prevent them from leaving the country. The central probe agency had booked a owner and promoter of Delhi-based OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, Sanjay Gupta and other in connection with alleged abuse of NSE co-location facility to make gains by getting early access to the stock market, they said.
Sebi on Friday allowed Bangalore Stock Exchange (BgSE) to exit as a bourse from the capital markets.
The fate of the $10 billion merger between Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Culver Max Entertainment, formerly Sony Pictures Networks India, is hanging by a thread, with the two parties unable to finalise an agreement as the end of the one-month grace period looms. The two parties are yet to come to an agreement over Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) MD and CEO Punit Goenka leading the merged entity after Sony expressed concerns after market regulator Sebi barred him from holding managerial posts in Zee and any of the entities in a fund-diversion case.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Monday said it was planning a tie up with Commodities and Futures Trading Commission of US within a month for sharing of information.
The change will help companies address market rumours without being worried about the impact on deal pricing.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has reserved its order on the merger of Zee Entertainment Enterprises and with Culver Max Entertainment (earlier known as Sony Pictures Networks India). The Mumbai bench of NCLT, comprising H V Subba Rao and Madhu Sinha, reserved the order on Monday, after hearing arguments from creditors who objected to the scheme including Axis Finance, JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co, IDBI Bank, Imax Corp and IDBI Trusteeship. In December 2021, Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures had agreed to merge their businesses.
Swiggy is planning to file its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its initial public offering (IPO) in the next two weeks, aiming for an $11 billion IPO valuation target. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise an estimated $1 billion (Rs 8,300 crore) through the IPO this year. The company is targeting a valuation in the range of $10-11 billion, and it currently has approximately $800 million in cash from the previous funding round, according to sources.
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh scored a crushing victory over Alexander Donchenko in the 10th round of Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands on Thursday.
'Investors should do proper analysis before putting in their money in NFOs as most new launches are in the high-risk thematic space.'
Capital markets regulator Sebi has extended the suspension of futures and options trading in seven agricultural commodities, including wheat and moong, for one more year till December 2023 in a bid to rein in prices. The other agricultural commodities suspended by Sebi are -- paddy (non-basmati), chana, crude palm oil, mustard seeds and their derivatives and soya bean and its derivatives. "The suspension of trading in the above contracts has been extended for one more year beyond December 20, 2022, i.e. till December 20, 2023," Sebi said in a statement on Wednesday.
2010 was indeed an eventful year from the personal finance perspective. The year had its share of controversies, forward looking policies as well ones which will pinch your pocket more in days to come. Here is a look at top 10 news items (in no particular order).
New Delhi Television Ltd has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Securities Exchange Board of India for its initial public offer of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said VCPL has urged SEBI "to provide its observations on the draft letter of offer filed in relation to the open offer, in accordance with the SEBI (SAST) Regulations."
The mutual fund (MF) gross inflows through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route topped the Rs 20,000 crore mark for the first time in a calendar month as investors opened a record 6.4 million SIP accounts despite a spike in market volatility. The number of accounts opened last month was almost 50 per cent higher than the registrations seen in March. "India's MF industry has reached yet another milestone with the SIP book crossing above Rs 20,000 crore in April 2024.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 26 crore on Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL) for alleged violation of securities laws. The regulator also directed the company to initiate steps to recover dues of Rs 3,535 crore-the amount diverted from seven subsidiaries of CDEL to Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates (MACEL). Affirming the violations of the Sebi (Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations and Sebi (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said the listed company was being run like a personal fiefdom with no checks and balances in place.
'The market should maintain optimism on the back of range-bound oil prices, a robust fiscal balance sheet, a better-than-expected monsoon, and moderating inflation.'
Here's a quick look at the likely changes proposed for selling unit linked insurance plans from September 1, 2010 and how they will impact investors.
US-based Schall Law Firm has said it will file a class action lawsuit against Infosys Ltd to recover losses suffered by investors in the wake of allegations of "unethical practices" at the Indian IT major. In October, Infosys had informed the stock exchanges of having received anonymous whistleblower complaints alleging certain unethical practices by the top management.
Micro-cap stocks are in the line of fire as market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is tightening its noose around investment in small-cap stocks. Given this, analysts suggest investors exit the segment, at least, for the time being. Independent market analyst, Ambareesh Baliga, for instance, said that regulators have gotten worried on the valuation front, though belated, which could prove to be the last straw on the camel's back.
Real estate investment trusts (Reits) are in talks with regulatory bodies - the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - to seek changes in regulations that will allow easier access to capital. The Indian Reits Association (IRA) said it has approached the market regulator seeking to get classified as an 'equity' asset, which will open the path for their inclusion in equity indices and also make investment by mutual funds (MFs) easier. The association is also in active discussions with the RBI to allow banks to lend to a Reit.
'...you evaluate three key factors before committing your money.'
Amid intense scrutiny from short-sellers and regulators, Adani group stocks have seen a significant shift in their shareholder base: Relatively opaque foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have given way to more recognisable investors and broad-based funds. The list of large public shareholders - those directly holding at least 1 per cent - is now dominated by entities, such as the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), US-based GQG Partners, Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company, and Qatar Investment Authority's INQ Holding.
Small and midcap schemes may impose restrictions on redemptions, cap employee withdrawals, and increase the exit load, while ensuring a proportionate liquidation of the portfolio during market crises to safeguard the interests of all investors. These measures have been outlined in the investor protection policies recently put out by mutual fund (MF) trustees. The policies for small and midcap schemes were prepared by MF trustees following directives from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) earlier this month.
