SEBI to issue guidelines on corporate bonds

The Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) will soon issue guidelines on corporate bonds to encourage firms to explore the opportunity for raising funds, detailed rules for which will be released in September this year.

The same was stated by SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi, who lauded the government's recent proposal to mandate listed companies to raise 25 percent funds via corporate bonds.

For the unversed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget 2018-19 had stated that the market regulator will consider mandating large corporates to meet 25 percent of debt needs from the market.

Tyagi further noted that long-term capital gains tax will have no impact on Indian markets, adding, however, that global factors pose bigger risk.

He also opined that recent volatility of the stock market may continue for some time due to global reasons. However, for small investors, Tyagi claimed that there is no cause of concern, as can invest via Mutual Funds (MFs), although it can't be as risk-free as deposits.