Gold, silver fall additional on nonstop selling

Extending losses for the second at once day, gold fell by Rs 175 to Rs 30,050 per ten grams in the national capital on Tuesday on nonstop selling by stockists in the middle of weakening global trend.

Silver also declined for the second uninterrupted session by Rs 120 to Rs 43,550 per kg on reduced offtake by jewellers and industrial units.

Traders said sustained selling by stockists on the back of slothful demand mainly kept pressure on precious metals.

Weak global trend, where gold traded below $1200 as investor holdings retreated and US equities climbed to a record high along with signs of an improving economy, further dampened the sentiment, they said.

Gold in Singapore, which normally sets price trend on the marital front, traded at $1,199.10 an ounce and silver dropped 0.5 per cent to $19.37 an ounce.

Besides,increase rupee against the American currency, which makes the dollar-priced precious metal's import cheaper, too prejudiced the sentiment, they added.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity remained under selling demands and lost another Rs 175 each at Rs 30,050 and Rs 29,850 per ten grams, respectively. It had lost Rs 175 on Monday.

independent, however, held steady at Rs 25,100 per piece of eight gram in limited deals.

Similarly, silver ready declined by Rs 120 to Rs 43,550 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 230 to Rs 43,740 per kg. The white metal had shed Rs 280 in the previous session.

Silver coins followed go with and dropped by Rs 1,000 to Rs 84,000 for buying and Rs 85,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Sebi drops IPO grading; allows cos to file projection list

 
To make fund raising process easier, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday made the preliminary public offer (IPO) grading mechanism by credit rating agencies charitable and allowed companies to file shelf list with one-year validity for multiple issuance of debt securities.

The Sebi 's board approved the proposal to make the IPO grading system voluntary as against the current provision of being mandatory. The move is part of the regulator's effort to boost the dormant primary market and reduce the reliance on rating agencies, who have been under scanner globally for their role in overall financial sector.

The IPO market had been dormant for almost three years.

Sebi-approved IPO proposals worth Rs 72,000 crore are yet to hit the market, according to Prime Data, a market research and consulting firm. The last major IPO was from Coal India in 2010.

This move follows a requests from market participants, investor associations among others.

In another measure to prop up the capital markets, Sebi's board allowed shelf-prospectus for corporate bond issues.

Domestic corporate bonds are a small portion of a market that is now dominated by government securities.

A shelf-prospectus enables companies to issue corporate bonds utilising the same documents more than once, which will help cut costs and save time.

Sebi extended the facility to file shelf prospectus for issuing non-convertible debt securities for non-banking finance companies, including infrastructure debt funds (IDFCs), besides public sector financial institutions, public sector banks and scheduled banks.

The regulator has also suggested allowing issuers authorised by central board of direct taxes (CBDT) to make public issue tax free secured bonds to file shelf prospectus.

According to Companies Act, 1956, any public financial institution, public sector bank or scheduled bank, whose main object is financing, was allowed to file a shelf prospectus.

To avoid fragmentation of the issues, which will affect the floating stock and thereby liquidity, Sebi said that only a maximum of four issuance can be made under a Shelf Prospectus.

Further, companies filing a shelf prospectus with the Registrar of Companies are not required to file prospectus afresh at every stage of offer of securities, within the period of validity of such shelf prospectus that is one year.

They are required to file only an information memorandum, containing material updations, with respect to subsequent issues.

NBFCs and other listed issuers would be eligible for filing shelf prospectus only if meet certain criteria, including having a networth of at least Rs 500 crore.

Corporate bonds accounted for 21 per cent of the overall outstanding debt of Rs 62 trillion in the country, with the rest controlled by the government securities market, according to a study by rating agency Crisil last month.

RBI cautions users on fundamental currencies of risks

With growing interest and reporting about fundamental currencies like Bitcoins, the Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday these were highly exploratory and tolerant instruments, cautioning users about the probable financial, operational, legal security risks.

The RBI in a release said the making, trading or usage of 'Decentralised Digital Currency' or 'fundamental Currency' (VCs), including Bitcoins, litecoins, bbqcoins and dogecoins as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority.

"No rigid approvals, registration or authorisation is stated to have been obtained by the entities concerned for moving out such activities," it said, adding that it is keeping tabs on the developments.

Stating that virtual currencies have no underlying or backing of any resources and their value seems to be a matter of speculation, the RBI said, "The users are exposed to probable losses on account of instability in value."

Since VCs are stored in digital or electronic media, called electronic wallets, they are prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of password, compromise of access testimonial and malware attack, the RBI cautioned.

The central bank said payments by VCs take place on a peer-to-peer basis without an authorised central agency, which regulates such payments, there is no established outline for recourse to customer problems or disputes.

The RBI said that the traders of VCs are exposed to legal as well as financial risks as VCs are being traded on exchange platforms set up in various jurisdictions, whose legal status is unclear.

The RBI added that it is presently investigative the issues associated with the usage, holding and trading of VCs under the extant legal and regulatory support of the country, including Foreign Exchange and Payment Systems laws and regulations.

GSK's open offer for retail wager in Indian arm from Feb 7

 
GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rs 6,389.02 crore open offer to pick up 24.33 per cent stake in its Indian arm GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals will start from February 7, 2014.

In a filing to the BSE, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals said the date of finishing of tendering period (offer closing date) is February 21, 2014.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) is looking at climbing its asset in GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK Pharma) to up to 75 per cent from 50.67 per cent.

The open recommend is for acquiring up to 20,609,774 shares representing 24.33 per cent of the voting share capital of the target company. The price being offered is Rs 3,100 per share, GSK Pharma said.

The open offer price will be payable in cash by the acquirer, in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 9(1) (a) of the SEBI (SAST) Regulations, 2011, it added.

"Securities regulations in India require a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent for a company to maintain a public roll in the country. GSK intends to keep the company publicly-listed," the company had earlier said.

GSK Pharma is engaged in manufacturing, distributing and trading. The company's product portfolio includes prescription medicines and vaccines across salutary areas such as anti-infectives, ermatology, and gynaecology.

The company employs more than 5,000 people across its operations and generated more than Rs 2,600 crore earnings in the financial year ended December 31, 2012.

The GSK Pharma scrip closed at Rs 2,954 on the BSE, up 0.47 per cent.

Sebi board clears new norms for implement of improved powers

 

To make certain greater value in exercise of its new powers, market regulator Sebi 's board on Tuesday cleared new norms for its search and capture operations, settlement proceedings, give back to investors and crackdown on illegitimate money-pooling schemes.

The new norms also seek to ensure that sufficient safeguards are put in place to avoid any use rongly

of its new powers and the required privacy of individuals is granted while conducting search and abduction operations.

At the same time, detailed regulations have also been put in place for settlement of admistrative and civil proceedings in a transparent manner, while ensuring that serious offences like insider trading are kept out of settlement window.

The decisions were taken at a board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi ), which is also believed to have discussed matters like new Corporate Governance Code for listed companies, revision of insider trading norms and a new framework for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

However, a final decision is yet to be taken on corporate governance code, REITs and new insider trading norms, sources said.

The seven decisions announced by Sebi after the board meeting also included doing away with mandatory IPO grading, list being valid for one year for multiple draft offers, and a tax treatment similar to FIIs being accorded to FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors), a newly created class of abroad investors.

As many as four decisions are related to the spread of an ordinance by the government for grant of greater powers to Sebi to check escalating of illegal money-pooling schemes across the country and to take strict actions against fraudsters and market manipulators.