Sebi Team In Tokyo To Reassure Investors

A delegation of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) left on Saturday for a week-long visit to Tokyo to convince the Japanese institutional investors about the soundness of the regulatory framework in Indias capital markets.

Led by Sebi chairman D R Mehta, the delegation also includes Narendra Jadhav of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Sebi sources said that the presence of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) president M G Damani and National Stock Exchange (NSE) chief R H Patil in the delegation will help to present the Indian case before the Japanese investors.

Their presence will help the team clear the Japanese doubts about the delays in settlements and share transfers on Indian stock exchanges.

 

Several Japanese delegations had expressed their concerns about the settlement system, delays in share transfer and so on. All doubts pertaining to such issues are expected to be clarified during the visit, the Sebi sources said.

A Unit Trust of India (UTI) official commented that the composition of the delegation is satisfactory enough to explain to the skeptic Japanese investors about the capital market reforms initiated by the regulator.

He said, Japanese investors are basically slow starters. They will invest in the government paper initially, then public debt and finally focus their attention on equities. However, this will be only after judging the soundness of the system. The visit by the delegation should just achieve this initial objective.