Under the new model, the surplus distribution in the participating policyholders' fund has been modified to 90:10 in a phased manner, wherein 90 per cent will go to policyholders and 10 per cent to shareholders. Further, 100 per cent of the surplus generated out of the non-participating business will be available for distribution to all shareholders.
Reports suggested that stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is looking into the allegations of insider trading in the shares of Aptech, a computer training company in which Jhunjhunwala is a promoter. An email sent to Jhunjhunwala on the allegations did not immediately receive a response.
The expected interest rate hike in the US and the resultant volatility in the domestic secondary market could play a dampener to the over Rs 2-trillion initial public offering (IPO) pipeline in 2022. IPOs in 2022 look promising, with as many as 35 companies holding the Securities and Exchange Board of India's approval to raise roughly Rs 50,000 crore. Another 33 companies are waiting for the regulator's nod to raise around Rs 60,000 crore next year.
The mysterious Himalayan 'yogi' who allegedly advised Chitra Ramkrishna, former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on important matters of the bourse could be none other than Anand Subramanian, according to a letter written by former NSE chairman Ashok Chawla to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Subramanian was group operating officer of the NSE and advisor to Ramkrishna during 2015-16. He joined as chief strategic advisor in April 2013.
Investments in Indian capital through participatory notes (P-notes) rose to Rs 1.02 lakh crore till October-end, making it the highest level in 43 months.
Dhanteras has cheered up jewellers as it has turned out to be the best in three years, thanks to the lower price of the yellow metal and pent-up demand. In Mumbai's Zaveri bazaar, buyers came in out force and jewellers did not have to depend on freebies to induce sales, even though all of them had announced some offers. In fact, more discounts were announced for diamond and studded jewellery.
Fintech firm MobiKwik on Monday filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), for its initial public offering (IPO). According to its DRHP, the company plans to raise Rs 1,900 crore, which includes a fresh issue of Rs 1,500 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 400 crore. The selling shareholders include American Express Travel, Bajaj Finance, Cisco Systems and Sequoia Capital India, besides founder Bipin Preet Singh. MobiKwik is the latest among tech majors wanting to list on stock exchanges. Food delivery start-up Zomato will launch its IPO on Wednesday.
Once stability returns to the secondary market, companies that have obtained approval from Sebi will start tapping the market.
Investments in Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) dropped to Rs 94,826 crore till November-end after hitting 43-month high in the preceding month. P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.
Sebi has said investment banks should direct investors to original sources such as stock exchanges, where data is publicly available.
It is the biggest issue we have ever faced in the securities market, where a sensitive and systemically important institution and first-line regulator was not only exploited by unscrupulous elements but functioned like a private fief, points out Debashis Basu.
There are more of them now and the total value of such companies--out of reach for small retail players--may surprise you. Shares topping the five-figure price mark were rare ten years ago. A look at March-end figures across the listed universe in 2011 shows only one such share. There were two by 2013.
'They have helped stabilise our market by acting as a counterbalance to foreign funds.'
IT services major Wipro on Tuesday said its up to Rs 9,500-crore share buyback programme will commence on December 29 and close on January 11, 2021. Last month, shareholders had approved Wipro's buyback plan for purchase of up to 23.75 crore equity shares at Rs 400 per share, aggregating to an amount of up to Rs 9,500 crore. "...the company received final comments from the Securities and Exchange Board of India on December 21, 2020, with respect to the Draft Letter of Offer filed by the company for the captioned buyback...the company will dispatch the Letter of Offer to eligible shareholders," Wipro said in a regulatory filing.
If Sebi and RBI remain quiet about this brazenly illegal activity, will someone in the finance ministry or the NITI Aayog take a closer look, asks Debashis Basu.
Taking a cue from Zomato's stellar initial public offering (IPO), through which it garnered a valuation of Rs 1 trillion, the government has asked its advisors and valuers to ascertain if the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) should be valued at Rs 10 trillion or more. The government is looking to offload about 10 per cent stake in LIC through the IPO. At that valuation, the government stands to net at least Rs 1 trillion from LIC's proposed IPO, which will boost the Centre's efforts to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion for the current financial year.
Sebi has amended rules pertaining to delisting of equity shares of a company following an open offer as part of efforts to make merger and acquisition transactions for listed companies more convenient. Under the new framework, promoters or acquirers need to disclose their intention to delist the firm through an initial public announcement, according to a notification. If the acquirer is desirous of delisting the target company, the acquirer must propose a higher price for delisting with suitable premium over open offer price. In case the open offer is for an indirect acquisition, the open offer price and indicative price will be notified by the acquirer at the time of making the detailed public statement and in the letter of offer.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has got into firefighting mode to control the reputational damage caused by the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) order against its former managing director and chief executive officer Chitra Ramkrishna and others. According to sources, the exchange's management over the past one week has met several key stakeholders, including officials in the finance ministry and Sebi, major shareholders, and trading members, trying to distance itself from the controversy. The exchange plans to hold more meetings in the coming week to ensure that trading volumes and confidence in the bourse don't get impacted, they added.
With India's market capitalisation surpassing the $3-trillion mark, stocks across the board are adding heft. The upper limit for qualifying as a mid-cap stock -under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) definition for mutual fund reclassification - has hit an all-time high of $5.4 billion. In 2013, amid the taper tantrum sell-off, it had dropped to just $1 billion, shows an analysis done by ICICI Securities.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and mutual funds (MFs) have put in more money as anchor investors in initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2021 than any other year. FPIs' share of investments for the year stood at Rs 24,477 crore, nearly six times that put in last year and more than nine times the amount invested in 2019, the data from Prime Database showed. MFs have invested Rs 12,264 crore, four times than that invested last year and more than 10 times the investment in 2019. The total investment by FPIs and MFs put together this year is five times the amount invested last year. The amount contributed by MFs, however, is nearly half of that invested by FPIs.
Risk is difficult to evaluate, warns Harsh Roongta.
Domestic asset management companies (AMC) have launched around 60 new fund offers (NFOs) in the last six months and mobilised around Rs 27,000 crore. Fund houses are rushing to launch new funds amid buoyancy in the equities market.
The income-tax (I-T) department is working on integrating the new e-filing portal with stock exchanges to help tax authorities track trade transactions, including futures and options. The integrated system will look at discrepancies between the data disclosed by an assessee and match it with data fetched from stock exchanges, using artificial intelligence, said two officials in the know. This will help detect and red-flag such matters, particularly those related to non-filers of income-tax return (ITR).
One of the biggest advantages of index funds and ETFs is their low cost, points out Sarbajeet K Sen.
The government has reached out to investors to apprise them about Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC's) growth and prospects as it prepares for the country's largest initial public offering (IPO). Preliminary presentations have been made to inform investors on how the organisation is being restructured ahead of the IPO, along with its financials, so that the IPO process can be hastened once its embedded value is derived. "A detailed presentation has been made to investors, giving them details on how LIC is positioned beyond what is known. "This includes how LIC is being restructured ahead of the IPO, and investors are keen to know that," said an official. In the Finance Bill, 2021, the government had proposed a slew of changes to the LIC Act, 1956.
The fund house had offered two options to affected investors -- either monetisation of assets by trustees or hiring a third party to conduct the process.
Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) on Monday said the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed Sebi's order, whereby the regulator had barred the asset management firm from launching any new debt scheme for two years. In addition, the regulator had asked Franklin Templeton to refund investment management and advisory fees to the tune of Rs 512 crore, including interest, collected with respect to its six debt schemes which are now shut. "With reference to the order issued by Whole Time Member(WTM) of Sebi on June 7, 2021, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd filed an appeal and an application for stay before the Hon'ble SAT. "After hearing the parties, the Hon'ble SAT has stayed the operation of the order passed by the WTM," a Franklin Templeton spokesperson said in a statement. The matter has been listed on August 30, 2021 for further directions, he added.
'NSE has thousands of employees. It is their institution. So it's a dear family.' 'One should not hurt the morale of these people.'
'Investors with as little as Rs 1 can start investing in digital gold.'
This month, advertisements for managing directors and the senior management team for the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development or NaBFID, should be out, signalling the start of a financial institution (FI) like no other the country has ever had. For this and other reasons government managers associated with the NaBFID project are convinced it should remain a 100 per cent government-owned entity. This is somewhat different from what former economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj said when the NaBFID Bill was being tabled in Parliament earlier this year: "To begin with, it will be 100 per cent government owned.
Navi Mutual Fund (MF), among the latest entrants in the Rs 35-trillion industry, is looking to make a mark in the passive investment space, which is gaining traction in the country. The Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal-led fund house filed seven offer documents with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on a single day this week. Some of the schemes Navi MF plans to launch are Navi NASDAQ 100 Fund of Fund, Navi Nifty Commodities Index Fund, Navi Nifty 100 ESG Index Fund.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday came out with a framework for operationalising the gold exchange, wherein the yellow metal will be traded in the form of electronic gold receipts (EGRs). The stock exchange desirous of trading in EGRs may apply to Sebi for approval of trading in the new segment, the regulator said in a circular. The bourses can launch contracts with different denomination for trading or conversion of EGR into gold. Under the new framework, the entire transaction has been divided into three tranches-- creation of EGR; trading of EGR on stock exchange and conversion of EGR into physical gold.
US e-commerce giant Amazon has written to Ajay Tyagi, chairman of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), to take action as is necessary to comply with the Supreme Court Judgment, related to the $3.4-billion merger deal between Future Group and Reliance. Amazon has requested Sebi to direct the Indian stock exchanges to withdraw the Observation Letters related to this deal with immediate effect. In January this year, Sebi had given a go-ahead onto Future Group's scheme of arrangement and sale of assets to Reliance, based on which the Bombay Stock Exchange also granted its "no adverse observation" report to the Rs 24,713-crore ($3.4 billion) deal.
'Sebi has to make sure that investor interests are protected and at the same time, there isn't over-regulation so that companies don't get discouraged to list here.'
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.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's move directing asset management companies (AMCs) to invest more in their new fund offerings (NFOs) could force the industry to go slow on new product launches. At present, AMCs have to invest one per cent of the amount raised during a NFO or Rs 50 lakh, whichever is less.
A total of 49 companies raised Rs 81,615 crore in Samvat 2077, more than the preceding four years and almost double the amount raised in the previous year. Samvat 2078 appears even more promising with mega issues of Paytm and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. However, Paytm's record could be short-lived as state-owned LIC is planning to launch a Rs 1-trillion IPO by March 2022.
In conversation with Deepsekhar Choudhury and Neha Alawadhi, Sharma speaks about his journey and the road ahead.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has deferred the diktat requiring foreign investors to disclose their mobile number, email addresses and income details to depositories, a move believed to be aimed at curbing practices such as round tripping and money laundering. "Based on the representations received from MIIs (market infrastructure institutions), Sebi has decided to extend the deadline for making 6-KYC attributes mandatory for new accounts opened by 1 month to July 1, 2021. "Participants are accordingly requested to take note of the above and ensure compliance," NSDL said in a note on Tuesday. The regulator is also meeting custodians this week to thrash out a solution and address investors' concerns.
Ebix had signed the agreement last year to acquire Gurugram-based Yatra Online for an enterprise value of $338 million (about Rs 2,327 crore) in an all-stock deal. The deal was supposed to conclude in the October-December quarter after regulatory approvals but went through several extensions, according to regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.