Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
Capital markets regulator Sebi is expected to take measures regarding the Futures and Options (F&O) segment very soon, in a bid to enhance investor protection, its senior official said on Tuesday. In addition, Sebi has urged the government to introduce tax breaks for subscribers of municipal bonds, which are crucial for funding infrastructure development. The regulator will make a case for a tax break for municipal bonds during a meeting with the finance commission, the regulator's whole time member Ashwani Bhatia said here. Since 1997, municipalities have raised Rs 2,700 crore through bonds for infrastructure projects. Talking about F&O, Bhatia said," Sebi is very soon going to do something about F&O. Study has come (recently)". The regulator, in its consultation paper recently, proposed seven measures to tighten the rules for index derivatives-- revise the minimum contract size and require upfront collection of option premiums intra-day monitoring of position limits, ...
The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) should provide credit enhancements for civic bodies which will help increase investor interest in municipal bonds, a senior Sebi official said on Thursday. The municipal bodies have an investment grade rating, but very few of them are rated AA and above which is considered essential by institutional investors like insurance and pension funds, Sebi's executive director Pramod Rao said. "NaBFID providing credit enhancements to such municipalities will be able to ensure that we have strong investor interest which comes in," he said at an event on infrastructure finance here. He said only 100 of the 5,000 civic bodies are rated which leaves a "long tail" of bodies which can raise the money it helped with the credit enhancement. The government has notified NaBFID as a public financial institution. The senior official from the capital markets regulator also said that this will not be working in perpetuity for any ci
NSE Indices Ltd, an NSE arm, on Friday said it has launched the country's first ever municipal bond index. The new Nifty India Municipal Bond Index will track the performance of municipal bonds issued by Indian municipal corporations across maturities and having investment grade credit rating, NSE Indices said in a statement. The index was launched at a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) workshop on Municipal Debt Securities in Bengaluru. Presently, the index has 28 municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers all having credit rating in the AA category. The index constituents are assigned weights based on their outstanding amount. The Indian municipal bond market has seen a resurgence of issuances after Sebi's Issue and Listing of Municipal Debt Securities Regulations, 2015 came into effect and a renewed emphasis on municipal finance by policymakers. Raising money from capital markets incentivises municipal corporations to fund new projects and improve civic infrastructure whi
Markets regulator Sebi has launched an information database on municipal bonds. As part of efforts to develop the bond markets, an outreach programme on municipal bonds and municipal finance was organised by Sebi in the national capital on January 20 and 21, according to a release on Sunday. Representatives from various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, municipal corporations, stock exchanges, credit rating agencies, merchant bankers and debenture trustees, participated in the programme. At the event, Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch emphasised the potential of municipal bonds in infrastructure development and nation building. The information database was launched at the event. "The information database contains a wide range of information in the form of statistics and regulations, circulars, guidance note and Frequently Asked Questions issued by Sebi in respect of municipal debt securities," it said. According to the release, the repository con