Commodity exchanges get six months to cut foreign holding

October 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - HSBC InvestDirect has started the procedure to delist itself from Indian bourses, a top official said here Friday. "We have already delisted from Luxembourg Exchange and we have also announced our intention to delist from Indian stock exchanges," Manasije Mishra, managing director and chief executive of the company, told reporters here.

October 5th, 2009 SEC OKs rules for canceling erroneous stock tradesWASHINGTON — Federal regulators have approved new rules for stock exchanges for nullifying erroneous trades deemed wildly out of sync with current prices. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday the new rules allow an exchange to consider canceling, or "breaking," a stock trade only if the price in question exceeds the preceding sale price by more than a certain amount.

September 22nd, 2009 Allianz to delist from NYSE, other exchangesFRANKFURT — German insurer Allianz SE said Tuesday it will abandon its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and others, to reduce complexity. The Munich-based company said it has already filed a written notice to the NYSE and that it would inform exchanges in London, Milan, Paris and the Swiss Exchange in due course.

September 15th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Power Exchange India Limited (PXIL) on Tuesday launched its longer duration power products for the Indian power market at a function in Mumbai. These 'Weekly' and 'Day-Ahead Contingency (DAC)' products will enable the market players in the Indian power market to buy and sell electricity up to a month in advance.

August 13th, 2009 DHAKA - Dhaka has opted for a 'go slow' approach to a proposal by Delhi to set up markets at some border points to facilitate commodity exchange between small traders of the two countries, a media report has said. "We are conducting a feasibility study after India proposed to set up markets in border towns," Commerce Secretary Firoz Ahmed was quoted as saying by New Age.

August 6th, 2009 China weighs opening market to foreign stocksBEIJING — China's main stock exchange plans to launch an international board next year that would allow foreign companies to sell shares denominated in Chinese currency for the first time, a news report said. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is working on the board as part of efforts to promote the city as a regional financial center, the newspaper Shanghai Daily said, citing a Shanghai deputy mayor.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Economic Survey for 2008-09 tabled Thursday has called for banking and financial market reforms, including increasing foreign investment in banks in a phased manner and lifting of ban on commodity futures. It also called for expediting passage of the Banking Regulations (Amendment) Bill and allowing high net worth individuals to invest directly in capital markets rather than go through the controversial participatory notes route.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rising commodity prices globally, delayed monsoon and fiscal and monetary measures are likely to push up India's annual rate of inflation and average near 5 percent this fiscal, according to an industry lobby. "The surge in international commodity markets led by energy, metals and food is likely to push domestic prices up," the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said, and cautioned that if the monsoon fails or remains below the average, the consequences could be far-reaching.

June 9th, 2009 House panel divided on new financial rulesWASHINGTON — Debate on new oversight for complex financial instruments moved to the House on Tuesday as lawmakers struggle to determine how tight the government reins on a massive global market should be. A key lawmaker said a balance must be struck in crafting a new regulatory system for derivatives, the mostly unsupervised instruments blamed for hastening the global financial crisis.

June 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - In yet another attempt to raise money, the board of directors of realty major Omaxe has decided to increase the limit of holding by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) from 24 percent to 100 percent, the company announced Tuesday. "The board has approved to increase the limits of holding by the registered FIIs to up to 100 percent," Omaxe said in a regulatory statement.

June 4th, 2009 Key Democrat questions financial oversight planWASHINGTON — Fault lines emerged in Congress Thursday over new oversight for exotic financial instruments blamed for hastening the global crisis as a key Democratic senator questioned whether the government's proposed plan is robust enough. Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said a new regime — anchored on a network of clearinghouses to provide transparency for transactions in credit default swaps and other derivatives — was needed to reduce the risks of another financial meltdown.

May 15th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The Forward Markets Commission has accorded in-principle approval to the 53-year-old Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange (ACE) to upgrade and convert itself into a nationwide multi-commodity exchange on the basis of an application made in 2008. 'The Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange has invited Kotak Group as an anchor investor, subject to satisfying conditions stimulated in the approval, and necessary corporate and regulatory approvals,' said ACE president Pravinbhai Thakkar while announcing the development Friday.

April 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - China and the United States will resume military exchanges that were suspended last November. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday that President Hu Jintao and his US counterpart Barack Obama reached the agreement at their first meeting on Wednesday, one day before the G20 summit in London.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Tuesday notified the detailed norms on what constitutes foreign equity in companies that operate in sectors with a cap on overseas investment, after the cabinet rationalised the procedures last week to attract more foreign capital. A press note issued by the commerce ministry says foreign investment of any form in a holding company - equity, preference shares, investments by foreign funds, convertible bonds, American depository shares or global depository receipts - will be considered foreign equity.

February 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's cabinet Wednesday relaxed norms governing what constitutes foreign equity in companies that operate in sectors that have a cap on overseas investment in a bid to rationalise procedures. Announcing the cabinet decision, based on the advice of an empowered group of ministers, Home Minister P.