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SC refuses to vacate SAT order on UBS Securities
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stay that portion of the order passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai, which reversed an order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banning trading activities by UBS Securities Asia Ltd for its alleged role in the stock market crash in 2004.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, however, admitted a special leave petition (SLP) filed by SEBI challenging the Tribunal's judgment dated September 9, 2005.

In its order the Bench made it clear that it would stay the judgment relating to the findings of the Tribunal regarding the manner in which SEBI had exercised its power to probe the stock market crash, but it would not stay the order relating to UBS Securities. The Bench issued notice to the respondents returnable in four weeks.

It was the contention of the SEBI that an investigation into the steep fall in the stock market on May 17, 2004, when Sensex fell by 567.74 points and Nifty fell by 196.90 points had revealed that UBS was a major seller in the cash market segment on that day having sold Rs188.35 crores worth of shares.

Pursuant to the findings, the SEBI passed an order dated May 17, 2005, prohibiting UBS Securities Asia, its affiliates and its agents from issuing offshore derivative instruments with underlying Indian securities in the securities market for one year. It was also prohibited from receiving or rolling over any of Offshore Derivatives Instruments already issued against the position held by it in the domestic securities market for one year. The UBS challenged this order before the Tribunal. The Tribunal set aside SEBI's order and also reversed the ban on trading imposed on UBS. The SLP by SEBI is directed against this order.
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ICICI Bank IPO subscribed 1.86 times
Mumbai: ICICI Bank's domestic offering of Rs5,750 crore was subscribed 1.86 times, with the maximum bids being offered at Rs505 per share.

The bank had set a price band of Rs505-545 a share for its public issue of shares through the book-building route. The bank is raising Rs5,750 crore (including a green-shoe option of Rs750 crore) from the domestic market.
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Bombay Rayon makes impressive debut on the bourses
Kolkata: Bombay Rayon, made its debut on the stock exchanges on Monday, closing at Rs83.50 on the NSE and at Rs83.15 on the BSE. The closings were substantially higher than the issue price of Rs70.

The Rs10-face value stock, which had opened at Rs80 and Rs82.30 respectively on the two bourses, rose to a high of Rs91.60 and Rs90 during the day.

Both exchanges recorded good trading volumes - 1,53,19,904 shares on the NSE and a more modest 92,19,878 on BSE, aiming the stock, among the 10 most active counters on the exchanges on Monday.

Bombay Rayon's issue, which saw the offer subscribed over 17 times, is chiefly aimed at funding the company's expansion programme, and had been offered at a price band of Rs60-70.
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Sebi asks Taib Bank to stop trading for Ketan Parekh linked entity
Mumbai: In the face of persistent reporting in the media about the operations of banned trader Ketan Parekh, market regulator SEBI has now directed Taib Bank, a SEBI registered FII, to stop trading in the Indian security market on behalf of its sub-account Jermyn Capital LLC, which is a UAE based entity.

SEBI has also asked Taaib Bank to furnish additional information on the beneficial ownership of the investments made by Jermyn Capital LLC and details of its investors and shareholders. It has been brought to the notice of SEBI that Jermyn Capital LLC had two directors who were also directors in Jermyn Capital Partners PLC, a FSA registered entity based in the UK. One Dharmesh Doshi, against whom CBI has issued a red alert, is a director of the UK-based entity.

According to market sources, the FSA Web site shows that Jermyn Capital Partners PLC was earlier named as Triumph International Finance Ltd, an entity associated with the banned trader Ketan Parekh.

SEBI has also stopped the operations of another sub-account of Taib Bank, Merlyn Capital, an NRI owned outfit.
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Hyderabad Flextech to convert IDBI loans into equity
Hyderabad: The board of directors of Hyderabad Flextech Ltd (HFL) has approved a resolution to offer 12.5 lakh equity shares of Rs10 each at par in favour of IDBI Bank by converting the loans into equity.

As per its notification to the stock exchanges, the company has will call an extraordinary general meeting on December 10 to seek the consent of its shareholders for the proposed conversion of debt into equity.

The company proposes to allot 12.5 lakh equity shares of Rs10 each at par aggregating to Rs1.25 crore to IDBI Bank by adjusting a part of the existing term loan in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement and one-time settlement of dues.

Keeping in view the fresh equity offer, the HFL board has also approved a proposal to increase the authorised share capital from Rs12 crore to Rs18 crore divided into 1.53 crore equity shares of Rs10 each aggregating to Rs153 crore and 27 lakh preferential shares of Rs10 each aggregating to Rs2.7 crore.
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Cisco, Sequoia and Westbridge pick up 10 per cent in Bharti Telesoft
New Delhi: The Bharti Group on Monday sold a 10 per cent stake of its software company Bharti Telesoft to WestBridge Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital and Cisco Systems for US$13.5mn.

While the Goldman Sachs-backed WestBridge has invested US$8mn, Sequoia Capital has picked up equity for US$3.25mn and Cisco has invested US$2.25mn.

Announcing the deal, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said that Bharti Group and its management, which hold 75 per cent and 25 per cent equity respectively, in Bharti Telesoft, would dilute their stakes proportionately.

"Bharti Telesoft will use the investment to facilitate acquisitions, enhance product development and further expand globally," Mittal said.

The company did not specify the exact amount of equity being divested.

According to its officials, the Mauritius-based WestBridge has so far made 20 investments in the country as part of its $350-million India Fund. For the Silicon Valley-based Sequoia Capital, which is investing for the first time in India, its earlier major investments have been in Internet majors such as Google and Yahoo!

Bharti Telesoft provides value-added products and services for the growing mobile telephony sector across 25 countries. The company's list of blue-chip customers includes France Telecom, Orascom Group of Egypt, Celtel of the Netherlands and Globe Telecom from the Philippines.
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