FINANCIAL EXPRESS

Sucheta Dalal 11 Jun 2007
 In 1992, when the National Housing Bank’s (NHB’s) deep involvement with Harshad Mehta became public, the government used all its powers to ensure that NHB, a subsidiary of the RBI, was protected and not wound up. But that scam was at least investigated by a Joint Parliamentary...

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Sucheta Dalal 04 Jun 2007
 Secured debentures of the non-convertible variety were the rage in the mid-1980s, but their glamour ended on their maturity when it became obvious that there was nothing secured about them. Debenture trustees (DTs) also shirked their fiduciary responsibility of securing the company’s...

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Sucheta Dalal 28 May 2007
 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Ten Point Social Charter to industry was entirely in line with the CII’s theme for its annual session. Yet, only one of his ten points—the bit about conspicuous consumption and excessive remuneration—has corporate India all a...

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Sucheta Dalal 21 May 2007
At a recent annual general meeting of a rating agency, several agitated shareholders suddenly began to express their anguish at usurious interest rates charged by credit card companies and their brutal recovery tactics. It had nothing to do with the rating company, its performance or its results;...

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Sucheta Dalal 14 May 2007
 Last week, there was a ripple of excitement in the capital market when Sebi finally cleared the path for realty major DLF Ltd to make an initial public offering (IPO). The immediate impact was a burst of buoyancy in realty stocks. A wire agency even predicted that the DLF IPO, along with...

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Sucheta Dalal 07 May 2007
 The Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill 2007 is one of the UPA’s regressive actions that is bound to trigger needless protests before the government pays attention to those who will be worst affected by its actions—the people. It is true that the postal system desperately...

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Sucheta Dalal 30 Apr 2007
Loans to the underprivileged are a lucrative and fast-growing business for India’s financiers. Citi Financial Services, for instance, has opened hundreds of new branches to grab this market. Its officials say they sanction loans of up to Rs 50,000 within 48 hours with minimal checks and...

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Sucheta Dalal 16 Apr 2007
 In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (Sec) settles almost 95% of its cases through a settlement process. This allows market intermediaries to close inquiries by paying a fat fine, but without admitting or denying specific wrongdoings, although the details of Sec’s...

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Sucheta Dalal 09 Apr 2007
The last 15 years have seen a continuous change in the norms related to publicly listed companies, driven by the determination of regulators and investors to improve accountability through more rigid codes of ‘good governance’. These codes depend on independent directors keeping...

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Sucheta Dalal 02 Apr 2007
 As liquidity gets tighter, interest rates are zipping upwards. Last week, leading private banks were offering 14% interest on 3-month fixed deposits of Rs 2 crore plus. A load of money is also rushing into Fixed Maturity Plans (FMP) of Mutual funds. The 13-month FMP offering with double...

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Sucheta Dalal 26 Mar 2007
 When the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) decided to scrap discretionary allotment for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and switch to the more transparent proportionate allotment system, it became the first regulator to stand up to the powerful investment banking community...

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Sucheta Dalal 19 Mar 2007
 A rebranding exercise is on. UTI Bank is on the lookout for a new name in less than 15 years after it came into being. While this may be a painful and expensive exercise in the short run, it may benefit the bank in the long run and emerge as a strong, independent and truly private bank. The...

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