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SBI Mutual Fund plans arbitrage fund
Kolkata: The SBI mutual fund is planning the 'SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund,' an open-end interval equity scheme that will try to provide capital appreciation and regular income by identifying arbitrage opportunities between the spot and derivative market segments.

The proposed fund will invest in debt and money market instruments and has described the interval period for redemption and switch over as the settlement Thursday (the settlement day for derivatives segment in the NSE which is currently the last Thursday of the month) or any other day declared as the settlement day.

Nitin Jain and Killol Pandya have been named as the fund managers. The proposed scheme will have Crisil's liquid fund index as its benchmark.

Under normal circumstances the fund's exposure to equities and equity-related instruments may be in the 51-85 per cent range, with a similar range for allocation to derivatives.

The fund may invest up to 49 per cent in debt and money market instruments, the minimum being 15 per cent. Securitised debt also will not account for more than 10 per cent in the overall exposure to debt.
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IDBI chooses subsidiary for mutual fund foray
Kolkata: IDBI Capital Market Services, a 100-per cent subsidiary of IDBI bank, will be the launch pad for the bank's proposed entry into mutual funds. The company will also be mandated to sell products of the insurance venture that IDBI is expected to promote.

IDBI Cap, which already distributes mutual funds, has been formally chosen to partner its parent's foray into asset management as a minority stakeholder.

Insurance, which will be an altogether new effort by IDBI (it had been in the AMC business in partnership with Principal Financial not long ago), will be a more passive affair for the company, as it will not participate in equity.

IDBI Bank may also tie up with one or more partner for the proposed insurance venture and three or four names are said to have been short-listed.

IDBI Cap further intends to serve as a pension fund manager and recently made a presentation before the newly formed pension regulator (PFRDA), citing its experience in the field.
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Opto Circuits to raise Rs.100 crore via public offer
Bangalore: Opto Circuits (India), a manufacturer of global non-invasive healthcare equipment, has announced it will tap the market to raise up to Rs100 crore. The company's directors approved the proposal at its board meeting held here on Thursday.

The fresh equity offering to the public would be done through the book-building route and the proceeds from the public issue would be used for expansion and overseas acquisition.

A part of the amount would be spent setting up an R&D facility in Bangalore.

The company said it is in the process of finalising an acquisition in the next few days and another in the first quarter of FY07. It says it is an advanced stage of negotiation with one US-based company.
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No extension of Clause 49 deadline, says SEBI chief
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) says it would stick to its December 31 deadline for listed companies to comply with the revised Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement. The revised Clause 49 prescribes corporate governance norms that need to be adhered by listed entities.

The SEBI chairman M. Damodaran also clarified that if the enacted law is inconsistent with Clause 49, then the enacted law would prevail and SEBI would redraft Clause 49.

On the recent comments by a PSU chief that it may be difficult for companies with large boards to comply with the revised Clause 49 requirements, Damodaran said size cannot be a defence for non-compliance.

The SEBI chief pointed out that Clause 49 is the beginning of corporate governance. "It is the basic minimum you need for corporate governance. Clause 49 is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for corporate governance," he said.
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