Sebi denies waiver on settlement records norms to CDSL
Mumbai: The capital markets regulatory authority, Securities and Exchanges Board of India, (Sebi) has confirmed that it has not relaxed its demand that the Central Depository Services immediately start providing settlement-wise records of shares in broker's pool accounts. The directive in this regard had required the depository to ensure this reporting from March 5, but the order has not been implemented yet.

While it is understood that the CDSL had approached Sebi for a waiver, the latter has refused to concede such a waiver.

As per the current procedures, after a settlement is completed, shares are transferred to the pool account of the broker. From here, the shares are then transferred to the investor's account.

In the case of NSDL, there is a requirement that when the investor receives the share, he would also be informed about the settlement number in which these shares were delivered, thus allowing the investor to know if his shares have been delivered late by the broker.

In the case of CDSL, however, these settlement-wise details were not required, thus allowing the broker the chance to play truant and transfer the shares only after a few settlements. But the trouble was that in the case of CDSL there was no way in detecting how long a share had been lying in a pool account as there were no settlement-wise records.

The issue had come to light when Sebi had delved into the entire issue of misuse of pool accounts by some brokers. It was then decided that the depository would ensure that it would give settlement-wise details of shares in pool accounts by March 5. This has, however, not happened.
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Sebi widens probe to cover price-rigging
Mumbai: Market regulator, Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Sebi) is widening its probe into the stock market crash to include the entire build-up of positions prior to the crash to detect whether or not there was rampant market manipulation.

This was stated by Sebi’s chief of investigation L K Singhvi who told a leading economic daily that the probe was now a comprehensive probe which included a focus on some scrips and entities. The regulator will probe individuals and other corporate entities before submitting a final report on whether the market was manipulated.

Sebi had launched a probe into the 176-point crash of the Sensex on March 2, despite the presentation of a Budget which was lauded by the markets. The focus of the probe was then on whether a bear cartel had come together to distort price discovery by pulling the market down in a concerted manner.
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BNP Paribas may pick up 50 per cent in SBIMF
Mumbai : A team of senior officials from Paris-based BNP Paribas is understood to have had meetings with officials of the country’s largest bank-sponsored mutual fund, State Bank of India Mutual Fund, to take a 50 per cent stake in the asset management operation of the Fund.

The bank is already SBI’s partner in its life insurance foray by way of the tie-up between its subsidiary Cardif SA-France and SBI for the latter’s life insurance foray.

The Fund manages Rs 3,000 crore in domestic assets over a total of 20 schemes and one off-shore fund, the India Magnum Fund, in association with Morgan Stanley which accounts for Rs 600 crore in assets.
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ANZ Grindlays MF gets approval for ownership change
Mumbai: Subsequent to the change in the ownership from the Australia-based ANZ Group to the UK-based Standard Chartered group, ANZ Grindlays MF has obtained the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India and all other regulatory bodies for a change in the ownership of the MF and name to Standard Chartered MF.

As a result of this, the name of the asset management company is being changed to Standard Chartered Asset Management Company while that of the trustee company has been changed to Standard Chartered Trustee Company.

Further, the option for unit-holders to exit without payment of exit load following the change in sponsor in accordance with the Sebi Mutual Fund Regulations ’96 is currently on.
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Banks protest as CSE invokes guarantees
Mumbai: Banks, which have been forced to pay guarantees invoked by the Calcutta Stock Exchange, are protesting against the refusal of the Exchange to declare the concerned brokers as defaulters.

The banks were, according to industry sources, persuaded by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to pay up even if they are against it. This follows a meeting between the RBI and the capital market watchdog, Securities and Exchanges Board of India.

The total amount of guarantees invoked may well cross Rs 175 crore.

Among the banks that have given guarantees to CSE are HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Global Trust Bank, Centurion Bank and Canara Bank.
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