Sebi mandates that MF investors barred from opting out of lock in
Mumbai: The capital markets regulatory body, Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ruled that investors stand bound by the offer document - and even the application form - of a mutual fund and cannot withdraw prematurely if they have agreed to a lock-in.

It delivered this ruling on an application made by Kwality Ice Creams to allow it to redeem its units before a seven-year lock-in as it was willing to forego the tax benefits under Section 54 EB of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. The lock-in was specified in the offer documents of the schemes in keeping with a CBDT circular.

Earlier, Kwality Ice Cream had dragged Sebi and the three mutual funds —Alliance Capital, Prudential ICICI and Templeton — to the Delhi High Court after the mutual funds refused to prematurely redeem the Rs 2 crore worth of units of the investor.

The latest ruling creates a piquant situation where mutual funds could be offering different terms for similar schemes. Already, there are some mutual funds, which allow investors to redeem prior to a lock-in provided they forego the tax benefit. The Sebi ruling seems to override the Income Tax act which allows for premature withdrawal, provided the investor is willing to forego the tax benefits.
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Sensex shoots up despite lack of broad support
Mumbai: Riding on the back of Infosys and Reliance Industries, the premier BSE sensex touched a high of 4,602 points. But the sensex clearly lacked the broad support needed to push it to 4,900 levels.

The index posted a high of 4,620, which was higher than the previous high of 4,485. The intra day low at 4,557 was still a good 152 points higher than the previous low of 4,405. At the close of the day the index had gained 135 points to close at 4,602.Sensex has the potential to rise to 4,924.
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Shares of LSE hit new high
London: As the battle for the world’s premier stock exchange, the London Stock Exchange, grows, its shares hit a new peak on Monday as hopes of yet more counter bidders emerged.

The stock rose as much as 9.5 per cent to 31.50 and traded 4.3 per cent, or 125 pence, higher. Traders call this "real bulletin board stuff because there's no active market making as such in the stock".

The latest in the bid saga -- reportedly involving all the major European bourses as well Sweden's OM Gruppen -- was a report in French newspaper Le Figaro that the Euronext group of stock exchanges had enlisted four banks, and might seek a partner to help mount a counterbid for the LSE which is itself trying to merge with Frankfurt's Deutsche Boerse to form iX.
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