Sebi contemplating tougher disclosure norms
Mumbai: In its bid to control companies from vanishing from the stock exchanges once they have been listed, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is said to be examining a proposal to include photographs, passport numbers, permanent account number (PAN), bank account and driving license number of promoters/directors in the prospectus while coming out with public/rights issues.

The proposal was made by the Central Co-ordination and Monitoring Committee set up as a joint mechanism to initiate actions against companies which are not complying with listing agreement and not physically traceable. The committee is also considering freezing assets of defaulting companies and expeditious prosecution, disqualification of the person in default, including the directors of the companies.

To effectively co-ordinate the actions among regulatory authorities who are also taking actions in respect of such companies, the committee decided to involve inter alia, the Reserve Bank of India, Central Board for Direct Taxes and Economic Offenses Wing/local Police in the task forces, depending on the need.
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Upward trend in markets continue
Mumbai: Depsite fears that pruning exposure by funds in select stocks may pull values down, equities gained when operators bought selectively in the value segment after noon, the market continued to remain bullish on Thursday. Index heavyweights MTNL, SBI, ITC and L&T came in for sustained buying support, providing the trigger for the market to pull up sharply.

The BSE Sensex opened with a gap at 4656, hit a high of 4746.88, only to slip down to 4656 before ending the day at 4728.81, indicating a net gain of 123.97 points over its previous close of 4604.84. The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 1430.50, hit a high of 1468.70, hit a low of 1430.50 and closed at 1463.65, gaining 33.30 points over its previous close of 1430.35.

The market saw buying across the board as there was interest in both old and new economy scrips. Some of the major gainers for the day were the likes of Ravalgaon and VisualSoft. Infosys, Satyam, NIIT and Hindustan Lever were the day's main gainers from the Sensex constituents. Pfizer was the only major loser from the Sensex group of scrips.
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Sebi may finalise new norms for foreign venture capital funds
Mumbai: In a report appearing in the Business Standard, Mr. L.K. Singhvi, senior executive director of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is quoted as saying that the regulator has almost finalised the key issues concerning the regulation of foreign venture capital institutions.

According to the new norms, the existing formula for pricing at entry and exit are no longer expected to apply, eligibility criteria for foreign funds are also being worked out and the automatic approvals policy for various sectors are also expected to be brought in by Sebi to decide on how much FVCIs can invest in various sectors. According to Mr. Singhvi, the idea behind these changes was to ensure that there was a smooth passage of funds into the venture capital industry.

One of the key changes in the new FVCI regime would be to do away with the formula-based pricing at the time of entry and exit of the funds. Currently, the pricing is based on a Controller of Capital Issues formula which has become completely outdated in the present context.

The Sebi contention is that in the new economy, these archaic pricing mechanisms cannot apply, particularly in areas like infotech, biotech and pharma, which are the key areas where venture funds are expected to pump monies in.

Sebi will also draw up detailed eligibility criteria for FVCIs, based on who are the investors in such institutions. This would be on lines similar to those for foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
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