Clippings- Capital Market

SEBI announces guidelines for REITs
Investors now have another route to invest in real estate. The SEBI has announced guidelines for schemes under the proposed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).As per the draft guidelines, all schemes are to be compulsorily listed on the stock exchanges and only close-ended scheme would be allowed. This means investors cannot redeem the schemes, but can exit by selling the units on the exchange. Net asset value of the schemes will be disclosed on the basis of the valuation report of a principal valuer appointed by the Trust and should be disclosed to unit holders as per the frequencies specified by SEBI.
Business Line, Dec 28, 2007
SEBI allows short selling by institutional, retail investors
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday allowed short selling of shares by all classes of investors, both institutional and retail. Short selling had been banned by the regulator in the wake of the Ketan Parekh scam in 2001. Short selling refers to the sale of stocks which the seller does not own at the time of selling. To provide for settlement of shares sold short, SEBI said it was also providing a mechanism of securities lending and borrowing (SLB) for all market participants. The date of implementation for this facility as well as the SLB mechanism would be announced later, said SEBI.
Business Line, Dec 21, 2007
Govt. may allow non-govt PFs to invest up to 10% in stocks
New Delhi, Dec 7 The Government may next week give its nod for non-Government provident funds and gratuity funds to invest up to 10 per cent of their investible funds in the stock markets, a move that is likely to give a further boost to the benchmark stock indices such as Sensex and Nifty 50.They could also be permitted to invest in rupee bonds issued by multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and in term deposits of even private scheduled commercial banks, subject to certain conditions.
Business Line, Dec 08, 2007
No absolute ban on P-Notes, says Union Finance Minister
The Union Finance Minister said on Tuesday that no total ban has been imposed on issuance of participatory notes (PNs) by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had, in October, barred FIIs from issuing P-Notes, based on derivatives, through their sub-accounts. As on November 15, 1,157 FIIs and 3,488 sub-accounts were registered with the capital market regulator.
Business Line, Dec 05, 2007
Derivatives: Retail investors make merry
At the National Stock Exchange retail investors accounted for nearly two-thirds of the derivatives turnover for October 2007, the latest month for which such data is available. They contributed 64 per cent to the turnover while proprietary trading broking members of the NSE accounted for roughly 25 per cent and institutional investors, both domestic and foreign, came a distant third with around 11 per cent. This is not a one-off phenomenon as the data for the earlier months too showed retail investors’ contribution hovering around these levels.
Business Line, Dec 23 2007