October 2008 - Posts - Initial Private Opinion

October 2008 - Posts

Welcome to IPO

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Welcome to my blog site on law and finance - am happy to be here on my transfer from my erstwhile blog on the same subject. My October posts from my previous blog are copied to this site, if you would like to see my past blog entries, you could visit spparekh.blogspot.com To know more about me, you can visit my website at http://www.iimahd.ernet.in...

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Short selling ban

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Apparently, SEBI has asked FIIs to reverse their short positions in the overseas markets - though there appears to be no official word from them. After crying myself hoarse over the past three days on CNBC, defending the practice of short selling, I made the final argument today - that banning short selling is not just bad economics but bad politics...

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Short sellers and regulators

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
I just saw this posting at ' Foreign Policy blog ' about the north Korean dictator and it reminds me of regulators and short sellers in todays markets around the world - read it to draw the analogy: "Kim was watching a special match between Kim Il-sung University -- his own alma mater, which was celebrating its 62nd anniversary -- and Pyongyang...

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Petrol Subsidy revisited

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
I was surprised to see a piece by Mr. Swaminathan S.A. Aiyar, noted columnist, in today's Times of India advocating that fuel prices should not be reduced. The piece is once again written on an assumption that the government has been subsidising fuel prices over the past year - which as I wrote on my blog on 11 th Sept 08 is a myth. My personal...

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Economist positive on India

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
The Economist thinks that things will turn out well in the medium and long term for India, once the current global meltdown settles down. Here is an excerpt. "All of this might mean that once the dust settles, India is likely to re-emerge as an attractive investment destination. At least in the short term, growth in India's flagship IT-services...

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Ranbaxy deal - no block deal

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
See my previous post on the sale of shares by Ranbaxy to Daiichi. It appears that the two parties could not place a bulk deal order on the exchange as the differential in price negotiated and the current market price is a huge number. So burning through the order book may not be viable, (see my previous post for explanation of the lingo and context...

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Wrong-headed hunting of short sellers

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Just when you thought the Indian securities regulator was smarter than it's Pakistani and US counterparts, it has blown the lid by sending intimidating letters (my interpretation) to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) seeking information on overseas short positions and synthetic short positions. See news report. For the record, Pakistan stopped...

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CNBC Europe debate on the financial crisis is up

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
The CNBC Europe's debate from the World Economic Forum's summer Davos is now live on its website . I was one of the four panelists in the debate. See my previous post for details. Share this post: email it! | del.icio.us! | digg it! | newsVine!

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ICICI gets desperate

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Looks like the largest private Indian bank is getting not merely anxious but desperate. News reports state that it has filed a police report against 'certain' brokers for spreading false rumours and calling these false rumours 'economic terrorism'. This Friday, I withdrew most of my money from ICICI Bank, not because I have doubts about...

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Pay revision of regulators - downward revision?

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Looks like the pay of regulators is on its way down. Here is a brief recap of the facts. The Board level members of the regulators today get a pay equivalent to an assistant secretary, the Chairperson gets the pay of a secretary (the exception being the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor). By contrast the staff of the regulators (I can speak of RBI...

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Competition in exchanges and OTC markets

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Manish Sabharwal has another good piece in the Economic Times on competition in the exchange and OTC space. Update: Just saw the contrary view from the above by SEBI Executive Director MS Ray in the online Mint. Share this post: email it! | del.icio.us! | digg it! | newsVine!

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Non Profit Initial Public Offering

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
The 11th Sept 08 edition of the Economist (subscription required) has a piece on a charitable organisation ' Do Something ' raising public funds in a manner similar to a corporate public offering. The organisation Do Something is raising US $8 million by way of an IPO (the public raising has no expenses which will be paid from the proceeds)...

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Investments in stock exchanges - limits enhanced

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
While the press has not yet reported on it, there is another big news from the SEBI Board meeting of today. See the SEBI Press Release (no direct link - click on the PR of 6th Oct). See my previous post on 6th Sept which in turn refers to my three previous blog posts on the issue. Again arguably a step in the right direction, but the quantum is inadequate...

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Participatory Note policy reversed

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
Newspapers report that the PN policy brought about by SEBI in October 07 to restrict foreign inflows and thus inflation, has been reversed by SEBI in its Board meeting today. This is a welcome move, even though both moves were reactive rather than strategic from the perspective of foreign exchange management by the government. See the SEBI Press Release...

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CNBC debate on 'what wins now' - from the World Economic Forum's summer Davos

Posted by Sandeep Parekh at 
At the Annual Meeting of the Young Global Leaders (and the Meeting of the New Champions) held in Tianjin, China last week, I was part of the following debate. What wins now? - What should be the key driver for business leaders right now in light of the recent financial crisis – Passion, Power, Purpose or Profit? hosted by CNBC, Europe. John Bryant ...

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