Open offer from Oracle for i-flex from Nov. 6
Mumbai: Oracle has made open offer for 20 per cent stake in i-flex Solutions which will open on November 6 and close on November 25. The open offer price is Rs 1,475 per share, which is at a premium of Rs35.75 (or 2.5 per cent) to i-flex's Wednesday closing price of Rs1,439.25 per share.

If fully subscribed, the offer will take Oracle's stake in i - flex to 75 per cent, from the current 55 per cent, for a total payment of around Rs 2,450 crore.

The open offer became mandatory after Oracle's stake in i-flex rose to 55 per cent from 52.5 per cent following a preferential allotment from i-flex made to Oracle in August this year.

Last year Oracle acquired over 42.41 per cent stake in i-flex from Citigroup for $593 million (Rs 2,700 crore). Oracle's current open offer is for Rs 1.66 crore shares of i-flex of face value Rs5 each.
Oracle Global Mauritius is making the open offer along with Oracle Corporation.
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SEBI sets up new panel to take up disclosures, accounting standards
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has set up a new committee on disclosures and accounting standards. Earlier Sebi has set up two committees, both chaired by Mr Y.H. Malegam and while the committee on disclosures was set up to advise it on issues related to the disclosure requirements in the documents pertaining to the offering of securities in the primary market, the accounting standards committee was set up to consider accounting standards in line with the Indian laws and best international practices and also to consider and recommend uniform accounting norms for the capital market and its intermediaries in India. These two committees have now been merged to form SCODA or the SEBI Committee on Disclosures and Accounting Standards in a bid to address the overlaps in the areas addressed by them.

The committee will advise SEBI on issues related to the disclosure requirements in the offer documents/application forms/advertisements and in any other mode of mass communication used by the issuer for protecting the interests of the investors and improving the overall efficiency of the market. It will also review continuous disclosure requirements of listed companies and for disclosures, valuation methods and standard norms for intermediaries operating in the capital market.

The committee will additionally advise SEBI on issues for addressing the operational and systemic risks, if any in the primary securities market.
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MCX to issue IPO after Govt approves FII trade in commodity futures
Bangalore: Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has said it would go ahead with its initial public offer (IPO) only after the Government allows foreign institutional investors to trade in commodity futures. MCX proposes to raise between Rs300 and Rs 500 crore from the IPO and plans to utilise the proceeds to expand its operations and set up rural infrastructure.

According to the Forward Contract (Regulation) Act (FCRA), mutual funds, foreign institutional investors and banks cannot trade in commodities.

MCX also plans to re-launch futures trading in steel soon. For the current fiscal, MCX expects to double its trading volume to Rs20,000 crore.
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Stock limits leads to drop in pulses prices
Mumbai: With a number of state governments putting a ceiling on stocks of pulses and wheat prices of these products have fallen on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX). Chana, tur and urad on Wednesday saw three downward circuits. Lack of support from the cash market is also considered "partly responsible" for the bearish sentiment in the futures market.

The price of the September chana contract on NCDEX slumped by Rs190 to close at Rs2,991, while desi urad for October futures nose-dived by Rs180 to end the day at Rs3,036.

Tur for the October contract dipped by Rs 87 to settle at Rs2,056 and wheat for the September contract closed at Rs952.20 with a loss of Rs13.

After Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat governments decided to implement a stock limit on pulses and food grains under the Essential Commodities Act which is applicable for six months.

Wholesalers in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur can hold a maximum of 200 tonne, while for the rest of Maharashtra the cap is pegged at 100 tonne. The ceiling for wheat is set at 20,000 tonne.

The Delhi government is also considering to fix stock limits on pulses and food grains in line with other states, and a decision in this regard will be taken very soon.
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Sebi relaxes entry rules for foreign investors
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has relaxed the entry rules for the international entities that can invest in the stock market as registered foreign institutional investors.

Previously, some of these entities had been investing through the FII sub-account route.

The regulator has made amendments in the Sebi Foreign Institutional Investors (Second Amendment) Regulations, '06 to treat overseas-registered or incorporated pension funds, mutual funds, investment trusts, insurance companies, reinsurance companies, international or multilateral agencies, foreign governmental agency or a foreign central bank as FIIs.

Significantly, overseas investment advisors can also register with Sebi as FIIs. Till now these investment advisors were directing their clients to buy participatory notes - a derivative structure to take exposure to Indian market. Now, these clients can set up sub-accounts in Mauritius to enter India. While sub-accounts have certain administrative cost, it is less expensive that buying a PN.
Sebi has also made it mandatory for FIIs to disclose all information relating to sub-accounts through joint undertakings.

The sub-account applicant and the FII through whom the application for registration is made, have to submit joint undertakings. These include a written submission that the sub-account is not a non-resident Indian (NRI) or an overseas corporate body.

The regulator also wants details on the source of income of the applicant (sub-account). Essentially, the source of income must be from known and legitimate means, the regulator said.
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