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Refco-Sify entity not to remit funds overseas
Mumbai: The Refco Sify Securities India board on Sunday said the company would not remit any funds to any of Refco Group's overseas entities.

According to Vineet Bhatnagar, managing director, Refco Sify, the company has ringfenced itself, along with the Refco arm in Singapore. According to Bhatnagar, the customers funds were segregated from the operations of the Refco Group in the US.

Ring-fencing allows the company to be insulated due to its corporate structure. The company is a joint venture, with Sify holding 30 per cent. Bhatnagar however clarified that the company was adhering, as an interim measure, to the advice given by the local exchanges to maintain current exposure limits on all segments not withstanding the company's excess margins lying with them.

As on October 14, Refco-Sify had Rs295 crore lying as margins with the Clearing Corp against the total stipulated requirement of around Rs150 crore.

Refco is one of the biggest brokerages in the country with more than 15,000 clients. It has a daily turnover of Rs600 crore in the equities market and about Rs60 crore in the commodities markets.
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Emerging market fund outflows: India defies trend
Mumbai: According to Emerging Portfolio Fund Research, investors pulled out a net US$1.15bn from emerging market equity funds in the week ending Oct 14, which also marks the first weekly outflow since August 3.

India, however, bucked the trend and recorded inflows of US$109.4mn. So far this year, India funds have crossed the US$2bn mark in net inflows.

"Investors lost some of their appetite for risk in the latest week due to inflation and growth numbers in the US, and moved out of emerging market funds. Some of those flows were redirected to the perceived safety of global equity and bond funds" said Brad Durham, managing director of EPFR.

Even as money-flows into India were strong last week, foreign institutional investors were on the selling side. In October, FIIs were sellers to the tune of Rs3142 crore in cash and futures segments. In the cash segment alone, they sold stocks worth Rs964 crore.

According to EPFR, money has moved out of all emerging market equity fund groups except Asia ex-Japan funds. "Even Asia funds would have been under the water if not for the resilient India equity funds, which defied the trend," said EPFR in a report.
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SBI Caps to tap rural sector for growth
Bangalore: SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBI Caps) has announced plans to expand stock broking services to the rural regions and hopes to open at least 40 branches by next March. According to bank officials the bank hopes to have at least 100 branches by 2007-end. The branches would include semi-urban and rural regions.

SBI Caps is the investment-banking arm of State Bank of India.

SBI Caps will capitalize on the extensive network of rural branches that the bank has, and will take the brick and mortar route for creating their network as well. In addition the bank also planned to use a network of franchisees electronically linked to the SBI Caps' network.

SBI Caps was making this expansion to channelise the savings of the rural population into the capital markets, officials said.

SBI Caps hopes to achieve this objective over the next three years, when its customer base is targeted to increase to at least three lakh. Currently, most stock broking, merchant and investment banking arms were concentrated only in the metros or in dense urban regions. Consequently, a substantial part of the customer base accretion was expected to come from the rural sector.
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Tasc Pharma raises US$50mn through issue of FCCB
Mumbai: Tasc Pharmaceuticals said it has raised $50 million through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) issue, which will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The bonds have a maturity of five years and are convertible at a conversion price of Rs336.92 per share, according to a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Deutsche Bank is the sole underwriter and book-runner to the transaction.
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Prudential ICICI AMC declares 15 per cent dividend on Discovery Fund
Mumbai: Prudential ICICI Asset Management Company, the joint venture between U.K. based Prudential plc and ICICI Bank has declared a dividend of 15 percent for its Prudential ICICI Discovery Fund. Fund holders will get Rs1.50 per unit (having face value of Rs10/- each).

The record date for the dividend payout was October 11, 2005. The NAV of the scheme under the dividend option as on the record date was Rs17.99.

After the payment of the dividend, the NAV may fall to the extent of the payout.
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SBI Mutual Fund declares 51 per cent dividend on its Emerging Businesses Fund
Mumbai: SBI Mutual Fund, a leading mutual funds in the country has declared a dividend of 51 per cent for its (MSFU) Emerging Businesses Fund.

The record date for the dividend payment is 31st October 2005.

Emerging Businesses Fund primarily focuses its investments in emerging business themes, primarily based on the export/outsourcing opportunities and/or global competitiveness of such themes. It also focuses on emerging domestic investment themes.

Earlier the fund declared a dividend of 21 per cent on 25th April '05.

SBI Mutual Fund has an investor base of over 13 lakhs spread over 18 schemes.
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