MTNL local issue too is off
New Delhi: The proposed disinvestment of part of government’s holding in Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has been temporarily deferred. The government had earlier called off its proposed global depository issue of MTNL shares and now it has put off the plans for the public offer in domestic markets too. The sliding stock market seems to have influenced the government’s decision.

The department of telecommunications and MTNL pointed out to the ministry of finance that the Indian stock markets have slipped during the past couple of weeks and a major recovery is not expected. The MTNL scrip itself is now priced at Rs 170 against a peak of about Rs 215. The DoT is believed to have argued that foreign institutional investors usually book profit before the year-end as they pay out dividends to its investors abroad. They return to the market only in January and so like the GDR issue, the domestic issue should be kept on hold till then.
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Govt acts to make CAs accountable
New Delhi: The finance ministry has set up a monitoring mechanism to make chartered accountants acting as auditors accountable for any lacunae in the tax audit reports submitted by an assessee. The income tax department will now be referring all cases of irregularities in audit or shoddy audits to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, which will take action against the chartered accountant auditors if the complaints are found valid.
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Capitalisation norm must for foreign equity
New Delhi: The government has clarified that the minimum capitalisation norm of $0.5 million is a must for non-banking finance companies having foreign equity for all permitted non-fund-based activities undertaken by them.

The earlier guidelines provide for a minimum capitalisation norm of $0.5 million for certain activities, which were non-fund-based and only advisory or consultancy in nature irrespective of the level of foreign equity participation.
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Lakshmi Vilas Bank plans bond issue
Coimbatore: The Lakshmi Vilas Bank, one of the private banks, plans to issue bonds aggregating Rs 30 crore on a private placement basis, with a greenshoe option of Rs 20 crore. The bond issue is likely to have a coupon rate of around 12.75 per cent and is expected to hit the market within the next one month. The funds will strengthen the bank’s tier II capital and will help it to shore up its capital adequacy ratio.
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