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Sebi framing algo trading rules for retail investors The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to introduce rules on the participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading, a system widely regarded as giving its sophisticated institutional practitioners an edge.The capital markets regulator is in the process of determining the extent to which individual investors should be allowed to use this automated trading system. Algo trading uses advanced mathematical models and computer programmes to create nimble trading strategies. Decisions are made and executed in fractions of a second at magnitudes a human being couldn’t handle. This advantage over manual methods is a concern for regulators around the world.The thinking in Sebi is that domestic individual investors should also be given an opportunity to take advantage of algo trades. It has asked exchanges to gather feedback from brokers to firm up rules on the subject, said two people with knowledge of the matte

Independent directors in a fix after SC order on asset transfer in Jaiprakash Associates case A recent Supreme Court judgement restraining independent directors of Jaiprakash Associates from transferring any personal assets over a group company’s insolvency issue has sent shock waves through the independent directors’ fraternity, with experts warning that there would be few takers for this role. Several independent directors on boards of companies are now seeking legal advice to find out to what extent they can be held liable for any operational issues in those firms.Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of Biocon, said the country is moving from poor governance to extreme governance. “It is unfair to place the entire onus on independent directors who are only privy to the information shared with them by the management,” she said. “Instead of penalising independent directors, the management and promoters should be penalised.” A corporate veteran who is on the board of several blue c

GST collections in October decline to Rs 83346 crore India’s goods and services tax collections fell to Rs 83,346 crore in October, from more than Rs 90,000 crore in each of the first three months after the new tax regime was rolled out on July 1.  A finance ministry statement attributed the lower collections to the release of state and central GST out of integrated GST (IGST) paid in the first three months, reduction in taxes and payment of GST based on self-declared tax return.  So far, 95.9 lakh taxpayers have registered under GST, of which 15.1lakh are composition dealers who are required to file returns every quarter. As many as 50.1lakh returns were filed for October till November 26, the statement said.  “While the overall collection for the October month is lower, this may not be a cause of immediate concern as it might be due to refunds given to exporters and opening credit claimed by businesses, along with some reduction in the rate in October,” said Pratik Jain, le

GST revenue States do better than centre States goverments revenue targets under the goods and service tax (GST) regime were fully met in August - November, with the central goverment making good the shortfall. The centre own revenue fell short of the target as firms used tax credits from the previous regims to meet their tax liability. The Mint, New Delhi, 28th November 2017

Public Bond Sales Slump in India as Stocks Gain Lures Buyers Bond sales by Indian companies to individuals have hit a five-year low and a recovery isn’t in sight as issuers prefer to tap cash-rich banks and retail investors flock to one of Asia’s best-performing stock markets. Public debt offerings plunged 84 percent to 39 billion rupees ($602 million) in the eight months through November compared with the same period a year ago, data from the market regulator show. In contrast, companies have raised a record $11.6 billion from initial share sales this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “A reduction in interest rates has made bank loans and private placements cheaper and a faster option to raise funds,” Ajay Saraf, executive director at ICICI Securities Ltd., said in an interview. Investors have been attracted by higher equity returns as demand for public bonds has cooled, he added. Lenders flush with cash after last year’s ban on high-denomination notes have been eager b

GDP growth likely to improve to 6.2 percent in Q2 Ficci India's GDP growth rate is expected to rise to 6.2 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal as the adverse impact of demonetisation and GST appears to be bottoming out, Ficci's latest Economic Outlook Survey said on Monday. The growth rate had dipped to a 3-year low of 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2017-18. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is scheduled to release the economic growth data for the July-September quarter on November 30. The economists participating in the survey also mentioned that the government should continue with its emphasis on productive capital investments in the social and physical infrastructure space even if this requires some calibration of the fiscal deficit target, the industry body said. The projected fiscal deficit number for the current financial year is likely to be slightly higher at 3.3 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal as against the governmen

Willing to extend deadline for Aadhaar linking to services till March 31 The Centre is willing to extend the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to various services till March 31, 2018, it told the Supreme Court on Monday.  “We are willing to extend the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to various services till March 31 next year,” the Centre told the apex court. Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 28th November 2017