Agony Aunt

At a conference organised by the Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, whole-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) S Raman spoke about how the regulator has been proactively solving investor issues. "We act as the 'Agony Aunt' for much of the industry on tax issues," Raman said. He recalled that recently a group of 30-35 foreign portfolio investors had landed up at the Sebi office requesting the regulator's help to resolve the minimum alternate tax issue. He added this was a "listening" government and that the tax authorities had addressed many issues highlighted by the Sebi, much to the regulator's surprise.