With the finance minister failing to deliver much sops for the capital markets, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Ficci) has now stepped up its efforts to revitalise the market.
The federation has prepared a detailed report suggesting various measures to improve the sagging morale of both the secondary and primary market.
It has recommended that the capital gains tax should be brought down from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for domestic investor at par with the capital gains tax levied on foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and non-resident Indians (NRIs). The absence of this move in the Union budget, which was against market expectations, has disappointed the market players thoroughly.
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It has further recommended that the period of shares transfer needs to be reduced to 15 days from the date of lodgement with the company.
Also, it has been suggested that the stamp duty should be made uniform across the states and rationalised to the lowest rate paid in any state at present. The federation believes that differential stamp duty rates result in cost differentials for issuers across states.
The federation has strongly recommended that insider-trading should be curbed. "With a view to overcome price-rigging, every transaction should be reported within the minimum stipulated time. This would necessitate improvement in infrastructure," the document prepared by Ficci states.
It has also mooted that quick probes and prompt results in suspicious trades should be followed by exemplary punishment, which will deter wrong doers.
In view of the latest take-over battles, the federation has suggested that the two per cent creeping acquisition should be raised to five per cent. It has also suggested that once the company has acquired 51 per cent ownership, it should be allowed to raise its stake to 75 per cent.
The federation has also expressed concern over the inadequate disclosures by corporates.
"The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) guidelines on disclosures and investor protection need to be reviewed and consolidate to end many confusions. Also, there should be adequate machinery to enforce the Sebi regulations and notifications, which are issued with the aim of monitoring the markets," it has suggested.
On the revival of primary market, the federation is of the view that the current system of money being collected through banks should be replaced or supplemented by Sebi-authorised share collection centres.
According to the federation, the centres should forward a computerised list of application forms with cheque numbers within 48 hours of the closing of the list. "Upon finalisation of allotment only, cheques of successful applicants need to be sent to the bank and the rest should be returned without encashment.
Thus the allotment time can be reduced drastically," the report says.
Investors should be provided with a safety net. In this regard, Ficci has suggested that holders of up to 250 shares have the facility to sell back their shares to the company within six months of the issue.
It has further recommended that regulations for both the private equity fund and venture capital funds should be simplified and the process should be hastened up. While the federation has asked for greater disclosures from the corporate, it is of the view that Sebi's stress on incorporating all disclosures norms in the prospectus has made the document extremely complicated for any general investor.
Thus it has recommended that any technical information should only be provided through concerned authorities like Sebi, stock exchanges, merchant bankers, brokers and underwriters.
According to the federation, ten per cent of pension funds and provident funds should be allowed to be invested in private equity and debt.
This money could be invested in mutual funds created specifically for infrastructure development.
It has also been recommended that mutual funds should be allowed to start pension schemes to ensure long-term funds for steady growth and borrow funds when they face redemptions.
This would help them to tied over critical short-term funds flow problem.