The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	SEBI wants listing within 7 days of IPO Mumbai, November 18 Market regulator SEBI today said companies should list themselves within seven days of their IPOs — a move that would lower the risks and costs associated with a longer gestation period currently in place. "The listing time should come down to seven days," SEBI chairman CB Bhave said here at an industry conference. Bhave said many things change during the time an IPO closes and the company finally lists on the bourses and therefore the investors get exposed to potential risks for a longer period. The regulator was looking to cut down the interim period between an IPO and the listing to seven days, from around 20 days currently, he added. A shorter gestation period would unlock money invested in IPOs faster, so that the money can be productively employed. Bhave also sought to lower the costs and risks associated with mutual fund investments so that the investors get benefited. "We need to look at reducing the cost of mutual funds and risk of investors," Bhave noted. Over the past few months, a number of initiatives have been taken by SEBI towards bolstering the IPO and mutual fund segments. "We believe the primary issuance process in India is not as efficient as the secondary market," SEBI chief said. The initiatives taken by SEBI in the past few months include opening up gates for longer trading hours for stock exchanges by allowing the bourses to extend market hours by around two-and-a-half hours between 9 am and 5 pm. The current market hours stand from 9.55 am to 3.30 pm. In September, SEBI had notified the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirement (ICDR) norms which would replace the Disclosure and Investor Protection (DIP) guidelines formulated in 1992. Under the new norms, allotment period of fixed price public issue has been reduced to 15 days from 30 days. Under the ICDR guidelines, book building by a company going for IPO has to be done only through an issue size of 100 per cent. Recently, SEBI had also allowed stock brokers to sell mutual fund products in accordance with the prescribed norms, in a move to expand the reach of such schemes. "The stock brokers intending to extend the transaction in mutual funds through stock exchange mechanism shall be required to comply with the requirements specified in SEBI circular... regarding passing the AMFI certification examination," SEBI said in a circular last week. — PTI
	Gas Row Suitable arrangement must be approved by Govt: Centre R Sedhuraman Legal Correpondent New Delhi, November 18 The government today argued in the Supreme Court, apprehending a cascading effect in the event of the judiciary giving primacy to agreements between private companies over the official gas policy at the cost of national economy and energy security. Besides the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the government had over 200 production-sharing contracts (PSCs) with several other companies, including foreign entities, and these PSCs would also come to a naught if the Centre had no role in regulating exploration, production and marketing of natural gas. Additional Solicitor-General Vivek Tankha made the contention before the special Bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam. If private companies such as RIL and Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) were allowed to share the gas among themselves, the government would be left with no option but to import expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, Australia and other countries. Despite paying a high price for the LNG, the government would have to subsidise it for the agriculture sector for the production of fertilisers and supply of electricity, he said. When senior counsel Ram Jethmalani and Mukul Rohtagi, who appear for RNRL, objected to the government arguing like a party to the case, instead of an intervenor like in the Bombay High Court, Tankha said until the HC delivered the verdict, the RIL-RNRL case was treated like a family dispute. "The suitable arrangement between the two companies is not suitable for the country" as it would result in a loss of about Rs 75,000 crore to the exchequer, besides adversely affecting energy security and national economy, he contended. There was no way the government could be kept out of the case that directly involved the interest of the people and the nation, it was argued.
	Gold likely to rise further Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, November 18 Notwithstanding the all-time high price of gold (Rs 17,080 per 10 gram) witnessed today, the sharp rally in its prices is likely to continue. With most central banks across the world trying to diversify their foreign exchange reserves by buying gold, prices are likely to increase further. Gold was trading today at $1,144 an ounce on the spot exchange (as against $817 in November 2008). In Mumbai, gold of 99.5 per cent purity closed at a record high of Rs 17,080 per 10 gram. This high price is aided by a depreciating dollar, which hit a record low today. Trade analysts say that though the gold prices had started rising last year, after the yellow metal began to be used as a hedging tool against inflation, the recent rally began earlier this month after the IMF decided to offload 400 tonnes of gold, and 200 tonnes of which were bought by the RBI for $6.7 billion. Other than RBI, central banks of Sri Lanka and Mauritius, among others, also started buying gold from IMF as part of their move to broad base their foreign reserves. Talking to TNS, Amar Singh, head, commodities research, Angel Broking, said though the consumer buying in gold was down, there is a lot of interest in gold as an asset. “With concerns of dollar depreciating further, gold will continue to be bullish. Even the futures trading in the yellow metal has seen a lot of interest in the past two months,” he said. It is learnt that since November, more than 20,000 lots (of 1 kg each) of gold are being traded on Multi Commodities Exchange (MCX) each day. Amitabh Nijhawan, state head of Fortune Equity Brokers India, said in the short term they were expecting the gold to reach over Rs 18,000. The rally will continue till the world economies are back on track and gold is not used as inflation hedge.
	Mittal opts out of Kazakh oil field New Delhi, November 18 Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has pulled out of a project to develop an oil field in Kazakhstan in partnership with ONGC and is looking for buyers for its stake in another company in the Central Asian nation. Mittal Investment Sarl, the holding company of Mittal family, had used the Kazakh government to muscle its way into the Satpayev oilfield in the Caspian Sea where ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) was shortlisted for a stake. However, just on the eve of signing an agreement for the field, MI decided to pullout, sources in know of the development said. OVL, which had in 2007 relented to the Kazakh condition of getting Mittal in the highly prospective field, has written to Almaty, saying the 25 per cent stake in Satpayev would now be acquired by it and not by ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd, the joint venture it had with Mittal. Sources said Mittal, which had dumped OVL when in April 2007 it acquired 50 per cent stake in Caspian Investments Resources (CIR) from Russian oil firm Lukoil for $980 million, is now looking at selling its interest in the firm. CIR acquisition was originally to be done by OMEL but the India-born billionaire went ahead on his own citing opposition to OMEL from Lukoil. — PTI
	Pandit to continue with $1 salary New York, November 18 Vikram Pandit, the India-born chief executive of Citigroup, will continue to take the salary of $1 a year, although the financial services firm has raised base salaries for two of its senior officials. In early 2009, Pandit had said he would take a $1 base salary and no bonus till the banking major returns to profitability. Citigroup had received $45 billion as federal bailout money in the beginning of the year. Although Citigroup has reported profits in the past two quarters, its continuing credit losses stands at $8 billion. The filing added that Pandit would not be awarded any stock salary as well for the fiscal year 2009. — PTI
	Record FII fund inflow not alarming: FM New Delhi, November 18 The government today said record invesments in the equity market by foreign investors was not a matter of concern, but it would act if it finds any distortions. Foreign Institutional Investors have put in a record over Rs 71,900 crore (over $15 billion) in the equities market so far this year and have driven up valuation of the rupee against the dollar, hurting exporters already hit by slowdown in the West. "It (FII inflows) is not a matter of concern. We have a system of monitoring. Whenever we find that there are some distortions, we have the arrangement to counter them. Therefore, it is not disturbing," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here. After turning negative following the collapse of US financial services icon Lehman Brothers since the middle of September last year, FIIs inflow into the Indian stock markets have begun to rise sharply. The FII inflow is the highest-ever investment made in rupee terms in a single year. FIIs have also net purchased debt worth Rs 11,890 crore during the period. This has led to appreciation of the rupee by over five per cent during the past six months, hitting exporters suffering from poor demand in traditional markets. Exports have dipped for 13 straight months and fell 11.4 per cent to $12.5 billion in October this year. While it is mostly attributed to slackening demand overseas, appreciating rupee is worsening the situation further. — PTI
	Tata’s successor may be an expatriate Mumbai, November 18 Industry leader Ratan Tata has said his successor could be from outside India. The 71-year-old chairman of Tata Group, which makes nearly everything from salt to steel to luxury cars, told the US daily Wall Street Journal in an interview that his successor could be an expatriate. Tata's tenure is till 2012. "It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65 per cent of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now that we are a company that has global reach and global presence," Tata said to a question on how he was conducting the search for his successor. In 2006, group holding company Tata Sons decided to raise the retirement age of non-executive directors from 70 to 75. "We are in the process of formalising a successor to me. We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints. We are looking both within the organisation and outside. The successor, I would hope, would have integrity and our value systems in the forefront and... carry on the path that we have tried to set for the company's growth," he said on when a decision is expected. Tata hoped that "there would not be a major disagreement in the way that we have operated... In terms of who that successor might be, it could be he or she, it could be an internal or an external candidate." In an interview to a weekly magazine early last year, Tata had said that his successor would need up to 18 months as handover time. — PTI
	Telenor cuts capex by Rs 3,500 cr New Delhi, November 18 Benefitting from lower equipment costs, the Norwegian mobile operator Telenor, which is partnering Unitech's telecom foray, has cut down its India investments plans by a hefty Rs 3,500 crore from the earlier estimate of Rs 15,500 crore, spread over five years. "The targeted rollout, combined with better terms from equipment vendors, will reduce the capex requirements. Accumulated capex in the first first five years will be reduced by Rs 30-35 billion (3,000-3,500 crore). The earlier communicated peak funding of Rs 155 billion (Rs 15,500 crore) is now expected to be somewhat lower," it said in a statement here today. The mobile major has affirmed other targets envisaged in its India operations. Telenor is due to launch the operations later this year in the country under Uninor brand name. — PTI