Street signs: Hopes rekindle for bankers

Hopes rekindle for bankers

Investment bankers were disappointed when two potentially large initial public offerings (IPOs) of Vodafone India and HDFC Life were called off, as the two firms were to merge with their listed peers. However, after the delay in regulator’s decision on its merger with Max Life, HDFC Life said it was reconsidering the IPO proposal. This has brought cheer among bankers, who are now waiting for an official invitation from the insurer to make an IPO pitch. “It is a large deal with good fees. We were disappointed when we heard the company wasn’t going for an IPO,” said a banker. 

Pavan Burugula  

Fast-tracking pending cases

Capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has set itself an ambitious target of completing all investigations within one year. Sources said Sebi's adjudication department raised concerns over the move, citing manpower constraints. Taking cognisance of the issue, Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi is said to have appointed four additional adjudicating officers to expedite pending cases. 

According to recent data, there are 221 pending cases with Sebi, of which, 86 cases are one-year old. 

Shrimi Choudhary

MSCI boost for PSUs

The government’s efforts to push for greater inclusion of public sector undertakings (PSUs) into global indices seem to bearing fruit finally. Representatives of the government have met index managers several times in the past two years to include more PSUs. This week,  Indian Oil Corporation, Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC)  were included in the MSCI India index. “We have tried hard to get public sector companies into the MSCI index, as it would increase the inflows and improve liquidity,” said a source.

Pavan Burugula