Samit Ghosh, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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We would have to stabilise the organisation, reverse merge and then, we will take up the universal bank licence largely because it is more efficient to operate from a capital perspective because the capital adequacy requirement in small finance bank is 15% whereas an effective capital adequacy requirement in universal bank is about 8%, says Samit Ghosh, Founder, Ujjivan Financial Services.

Ujjivan Financial Services is the holding company of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank and we have seen the small finance bank reporting losses and higher NPAs which can be attributed to the second Covid wave. But what led to such losses and when can we expect to return to profitability?
As far as the business is concerned Nitin (Nitin Chugh, MD & CEO of Ujjivan SFB) is the right person to answer this question. From our perspective, obviously the impact was because of the second Covid wave, which took a toll on our portfolio and right now it is in recovery mode. But we do not know when the next wave is going to hit because not enough Indians have been vaccinated and with the festive season coming, there could be another knock down effect on us.

We have been very concerned about the portfolio quality and the management of the portfolio business. We are closely monitoring it and this is something we have been worried about not just now, but from last year itself. We are a very conservative organisation and we always believed that we should provide upfront and take appropriate action because that has been our philosophy in the past and that is what we would like to see again.

RBI has approved the merger of holding companies with small finance banks. When do you see that happening for your company?
We complete five years in the beginning of February and we can apply three months before that. So we would be applying three months before February, around November. Once RBI clears us for reverse merger, the whole process might take between 9 and 12 months. There are hurdles not only in the RBI but also from the Sebi perspective. There are a couple of issues for which they have to give us clearance. We are keenly watching what happens to Equitas because they are ahead of us in this process and we will follow suit. But our process will start in November and once our approval is there by February, it will take another 9 to 12 months.

A lot of people are watching very closely whether or not you have the intention to become a universal bank. Is that something that you are still considering and what work is being done towards that end?
Firstly we have to reverse merge. That is the first step and it will stabilise us. We are going through a very difficult time right now, not only from a portfolio quality point of view but also from a people retention point of view. Lot of the people who actually built Ujjivan have left and that makes life more difficult for us. We would have to stabilise the organisation, reverse merge and then, we will take up the universal bank licence largely because it is more efficient to operate from a capital perspective because the capital adequacy requirement in small finance bank is 15% whereas an effective capital adequacy requirement in universal bank is about 8%. That we will take up after our own reverse merger process is over,



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PNB Housing Finance plans to raise Rs 35,000 crore debt as Carlyle deal in abeyance, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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PNB Housing Finance is now looking to raise Rs 35,000 crore debt, after facing legal hurdles in the Carlyle group deal, days after SAT gave a split verdict in the matter.

The company will seek shareholders’ nod in its annual general meeting (AGM) on September 3, 2021, PNB Housing Finance said in a regulatory filing.

The company said it will seek shareholders’ approval for further fund raising by way of debt issue.

“Shareholders’ approval is being sought in the 33rd AGM for further fund raising by way of debt issue and the shareholders are being requested to authorise the board of directors to offer, from time to time, the subscription of redeemable, secured/unsecured non-convertible debentures aggregating to Rs 35,000 crore in one or more tranches,” it said in the filing.

On Monday, Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) gave a split verdict in the company’s appeal to the court in the matter related to Rs 4,000 crore equity fund infusion led by its existing investor Carlyle group, and others through preferential allotment of shares and warrants.

Had the deal not stuck into regulatory and legal hurdles, the company would have been successful in raising the equity capital.

The Carlyle deal

The Carlyle-led deal was announced on May 31, in which a clutch of investors including former HDFC Bank MD&CEO Aditya Puri‘s family investment vehicle Salisbury Investments, were to infuse equity capital in PNB Housing. Puri is also a senior advisor for Carlyle in Asia.

However, the deal soon got into a controversy after a proxy advisory firm raised issues and said it would hurt the interest of the minority shareholders as well the promoter. It said the issue price of Rs 390 apiece was too low vis-a-vis the prevailing stock price.

Subsequently, Sebi asked the company to get the valuation of the issue price done from an independent registered valuer, while the company approached the SAT in June, citing it followed the Sebi guidelines on deciding on the price.

The SAT order

SAT in its order, by the two-member bench of Justice Tarun Agarwala and Justice M T Joshi said:”In view of the difference of opinion between the members of the bench “we direct the interim order dated 21st June, 2021 to continue till further order.” Prevalence of interim order means the company can’t disclose the results of the shareholders’ voting that happened on June 22, to know if they cleared the proposal with requisite majority or not.

The company has been looking to raise funds for the past few years. Also, the Reserve Bank of India earlier this year had barred PNB from infusing capital into its subsidiary.

The Carlyle matter is likely to reach the Supreme Court since the tribunal did not provide a clear verdict on the way forward for the deal.



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Sebi eases operational procedure to make fee payments, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Easing operational procedure, markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday asked companies and merchant bankers to pay the fees for filing public issues through the payment gateway provided on its intermediary portal. The intermediaries can also generate an e-challan, which can be shared with the companies or entities for making the required payment. Once, the payment is made, the same will be updated on the Sebi’s intermediary (SI) portal, the regulator said in two separate notices.

They have been asked to refrain from transferring the Sebi fees directly to the bank account of the regulator or through offline modes since such payments bypass the existing SAP system and create reconciliation issues.

“It may be further noted that with effect from August 12, 2021, the fillings, where the payment has been made through modes other than the payment gateway of SI portal, may get delayed,” the regulator said.

This is applicable for making the payment of fees to Sebi in connection with the filings made under buyback of securities norms, ICDR (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) rules and SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations.



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IPO-bound Paytm seeks shareholders’ nod to double ESOP pool, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Fintech startup Paytm is planning to more than double its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool, as per a letter sent to its shareholders for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled for September 2, ahead of its much-anticipated IPO.

The Noida-based firm has proposed to its shareholders an increase in the existing ESOP pool to 61,094,280 equity options at a face value of Re 1 each from the current 24,094,280 equity options. The fintech company has also sought approval of founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s revised employment agreement as the managing director and chief executive of the company.

Additionally, the company is formalising three appointments to the board of directors. These are Neeraj Arora, former chief business officer of WhatsApp and Ashit Ranjit Lilani, managing partner of Saama Capital, as non-executive independent directors; and Douglas Feagin, senior vice president, Ant Group, as a director.

The company has also put forth revised annual remuneration agreements for independent directors on the board for shareholders’ consideration. These include those of Mark Schwartz and Pallavi Shardul Shroff for Rs 1.85 crore and Ashit Ranjit Lilani and Neeraj Arora for Rs 1.48 crore.

ET has reviewed a copy of the letter.

In its previous EGM on July 12, the firm had passed several resolutions, including an IPO raise, and one declassifying Sharma as the promoter to list as a professionally managed company. Listing as a professionally run business could help smoothen Paytm’s IPO process as it reduces the compliance burden from investors and individuals that are considered promoters.

Also Read: Paytm founder to have protective rights after listing

Paytm’s ESOP expansion comes at a time when several leading tech and internet startups have offered lucrative buyback windows to help employees vest their options. In 2021, startups such as Zerodha, Razorpay, Cred, Acko, Udaan have given their employees windows to cash their stock options as valuations of India’s internet startups continue to rise rapidly.

ESOPs are an employee benefit plan that gives the firm’s employees ownership in the company in the first of stock options. Among growth-stage startups, ESOP plans are seen as an effective way to attract, retain and reward workers in a highly competitive talent market.

Paytm in July had filed a draft red herring prospectus with the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), to raise Rs 16,600 crore ($2.2 billion) through a public issue in what will be one of the biggest Indian IPOs in at least a decade.

Also Read: Paytm and the art of going public

The stock offering will comprise a fresh issue worth Rs 8,300 crore ($1.1 billion) and a secondary issue or an offer for sale (OFS) of the same size, Paytm has told Sebi. The company may also consider a pre-IPO funding round of up to Rs 2,000 crore. If that happens the size of the fresh issue will be adjusted accordingly, the DRHP says.



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Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC gets Sebi’s go ahead to float IPO, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has received capital markets regulator Sebi‘s approval to raise funds through an initial share sale. The initial public offer (IPO) is entirely an offer for sale, wherein two promoters — Aditya Birla Capital and Sun Life (India) AMC Investments — will divest their stake in the asset management firm, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

The IPO of up to 3.88 crore equity shares comprises an offer for sale of up to 28.51 lakh equity shares by Aditya Birla Capital and up to 3.6 crore equity shares by Sun Life AMC.

The asset management company, which had filed preliminary IPO papers with Sebi in April, obtained the final “observation” letter from the regulator on August 5, an update with the markets watchdog showed on Monday.

In market parlance, observation of Sebi is a kind of its go-ahead to float the public issue.

Based on the average industry price earning ratio, the IPO is expected to fetch Rs 1,500-2,000 crore, merchant banking sources said.

The proposed sale of equity shares by Aditya Birla Capital and Sun Life India in the IPO will together constitute up to 13.50 per cent of the paid-up share capital of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd, the investment manager of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc of Canada.

Asset management firms like Nippon Life India Asset Management, HDFC AMC and UTI AMC are already listed on the stock exchanges.

Aditya Birla Sunlife MF, the fourth largest fund house, had average assets under management of Rs 2.7 lakh crore as of March quarter.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, BofA Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, SBI Capital Markets and YES Securities (India) Limited are the merchant bankers to the issue.

Earlier in June, Sebi had kept the proposed initial share-sale of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC in “abeyance”.

However, the regulator had not disclosed the reason for the same.



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Sebi probed 94 new cases for flouting securities law in FY21, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: As many as 94 fresh cases pertaining to flouting of securities norms were taken up for investigation by Sebi in 2020-21, marking a decline of 42 per cent from the preceding financial year, as per the regulator’s latest annual report. The cases were related to alleged violation of securities law including market manipulation and price rigging.

“During 2020-21, 94 new cases were taken up for investigation and 140 cases completed in comparison to 161 new cases taken up and 170 cases completed in 2019-20,” the report noted.

Sebi said 43.6 per cent of the total cases taken up for investigation during 2020-21 were related to market manipulation and price rigging.

Besides, insider trading and takeover violations accounted for 31 per cent and over 3 per cent of the total cases, respectively. Over 21 per cent were related to other violations of securities laws.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) initiates investigation based on reference received from sources such as its integrated surveillance department, other operational departments and external government agencies.

“The purpose of the investigation is to gather evidence and to identify persons/ entities behind irregularities and violations so that appropriate and suitable regulatory action can be taken, wherever required,” the regulator noted in its annual report for 2020-21.

The steps involved during investigation process include an analysis of market data like order and trade log, transaction statements and exchange report.

Among others, Sebi also analysed bank records like account statements and KYC details, information about a firm, call data records and information obtained from market intermediaries during the investigation process.

After completion of an investigation, the watchdog said, penal action was initiated wherever violations of securities laws and obligations relating to securities market were observed.

During 2020-21, the regulator initiated enforcement action in 225 cases, while it disposed of 125 cases. At the end of March 2021, 476 cases were pending for action.



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Post-IPO, Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar will remain in the saddle, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Omnichannel beauty retailer Nykaa will not only be the first woman-led Indian unicorn to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO), but Falguni Nayar, its founder and CEO, is also expected to have strong control over the company compared to founders of other startups such as Paytm, PolicyBazaar, Zomato, Mobikwik and CarTrade.

Including Nykaa, six Indian startups have filed their draft prospectus with markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Food delivery app Zomato has already made a stellar stock market debut.

Falguni, a banker-turned-entrepreneur, will have – as a promoter of the company – the right to nominate up to “50% of the number of directors on the board as well as nominate at least one such nominee director as member on each statutory or other committee constituted by the board…,” according to the IPO draft papers.

The option of exercising such rights comes at a time when most startup entrepreneurs are often left with less than 10% stake in their ventures by the time they list publicly.

This will be valid as long as Nykaa’s promoters hold more than 25% in the company.

As long as Falguni Nayar, husband Sanjay Nayar – the chairman of private equity major KKR India, the Nayar Family Trust and Sanjay Nayar Family Trust continue to be classified as promoters, they can nominate up to one-third of the board of directors as well as nominate at least one such nominee director as a member on a committee constituted by the board.

Falguni, Sanjay and their children own over 53% stake in Nykaa parent FSN E-commerce Ventures.

Nayar, a source told ET, will retain majority control even after the IPO.

The company will continue to be an inventory-led ecommerce platform as well. Foreign-owned ecommerce platforms are not allowed to have inventory models in the country and have to operate as a marketplace, like Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon India.

Further, Nykaa’s promoters will have the right of first refusal when a shareholder with less than 3% stake sells shares.

These rights are an outcome of the majority shareholding Nayar and her family hold as promoters.

“For a majority stakeholder, these broad rights can be accorded as per the laws. However, she is the only founder among the top-tier founders to have such a stake in the firm going into the IPO,” a senior industry executive who has worked with startups on IPO regulations said.

“In addition to the above, Sanjay Nayar and Falguni Nayar, as long as each of them is a director, is not liable to retire by rotation for as long as their total number does not exceed one-third of the total number of directors, excluding independent directors, or such other limit as may be permitted under applicable law,” the draft prospectus added.

Revival in sales
Meanwhile, Nykaa has made a full sales recovery to pre-Covid-19 second wave levels at the end of last month, a person aware of the matter said.

The overall impact on monthly sales was relatively less during the second wave compared to the first.

Last year, Nayar had told ET that being an omni-channel retailer helped it during the Covid-19 outbreak even as online sales recovered faster. She told ET that 85%-90% of its customers were registered in Nykaa database and that it was able to cater to them through hyperlocal, and in some cases by taking orders over the phone as well.

“By the end of last month, sales were back to pre-second wave levels. Overall, the expectation is that this year would be another good year for growth,” the person said.

Nykaa sells several third-party beauty and personal care brands but is also building its own set of private labels across categories.

Its fashion business is now about 20% of overall sales, sources aware of the matter said.

For now, Nykaa’s in-house labels are relatively a smaller vertical.

“Nykaa is seeing recovery across the board but there is a sharp rebound in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Non-metros seem to be less impacted in terms of consumption for Nykaa users,” this person added.

In the DRHP, Nykaa said sales from tier 2 and tier 3 cities contributed 64% in FY21 compared to 59% in FY20.

It has also cited current draft ecommerce proposals as a risk-factor as the proposals could impact its operations.

Nykaa clocked total revenue of Rs 2,452.6 crore in FY21 compared to Rs 1,777.8 crore in FY20, a growth of 38%.

Its net profit stood at Rs 61.96 crore in FY21 compared to a net loss of Rs 16.34 crore in FY20.

Its gross merchandise value jumped by over 50% to almost Rs 4,046 crore in FY21.



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Sebi allows payments banks to act as investment bankers, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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NEW DELHI: To provide easy access to investors to participate in public and rights issues by using various payment avenues, markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday allowed payments banks to carry out the activities of investment bankers.

Non-scheduled payments banks, which have prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will be eligible to act as a banker to an issue (BTI), Sebi said in a circular.

This is subject to fulfilment of the conditions stipulated in the BTI rules.

Further, payments banks registered as a BTI will also be permitted to act as self-certified syndicate banks, subject to the fulfilment of the criteria laid down by the Sebi in this regard from time to time.

“The blocking/movement of funds from the investor to issuer shall only be made through the savings account of the investor held with the payments bank,” Sebi said.

In a notification dated July 30, the regulator amended the Bankers to an Issue rules, thereby permitting such other banking company, as may be specified by the Sebi, from time to time, to carry out the activities of Bankers to an Issue (BTI), in addition to the scheduled banks.

Bankers to an issue mean a scheduled bank or such other banking company as may be specified by Sebi carrying activities, including acceptance of application money, acceptance of allotment or call money, refund of application money and payment of dividend or interest warrants.



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Sebi allows payments banks to act as investment bankers, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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NEW DELHI: To provide easy access to investors to participate in public and rights issues by using various payment avenues, markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday allowed payments banks to carry out the activities of investment bankers.

Non-scheduled payments banks, which have prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will be eligible to act as a banker to an issue (BTI), Sebi said in a circular.

This is subject to fulfilment of the conditions stipulated in the BTI rules.

Further, payments banks registered as a BTI will also be permitted to act as self-certified syndicate banks, subject to the fulfilment of the criteria laid down by the Sebi in this regard from time to time.

“The blocking/movement of funds from the investor to issuer shall only be made through the savings account of the investor held with the payments bank,” Sebi said.

In a notification dated July 30, the regulator amended the Bankers to an Issue rules, thereby permitting such other banking company, as may be specified by the Sebi, from time to time, to carry out the activities of Bankers to an Issue (BTI), in addition to the scheduled banks.

Bankers to an issue mean a scheduled bank or such other banking company as may be specified by Sebi carrying activities, including acceptance of application money, acceptance of allotment or call money, refund of application money and payment of dividend or interest warrants.



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Sebi revises minimum application value, trading lot for REITs, InvITs, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi has reduced the minimum application value of REITs and InvITs, and revised trading lot to one unit for these emerging investment instruments to make them attractive for retail investors. The minimum application value has been cut down to the range of Rs 10,000-15,000 for both REITs and InvITs, compared to the earlier requirement of Rs 50,000 for REITs and Rs 1 lakh for InvITs, Sebi said in two separate notifications dated July 30.

Also, the regulator said the revised trading lot will be of one unit for real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs).

Allotment to any investor is required to be made in the multiples of a lot.

Earlier, for initial listing, a trading lot was required to be of 100 units.

The Sebi’s move will lead to better liquidity and efficient price discovery and will provide an attractive opportunity for retail investors to earn stable yields with growth potential.

In addition, the regulator has introduced a minimum unit holders requirement for unlisted InvITs.

“The minimum number of unitholders in an InvIT, other than the sponsor(s), its related parties and its associates, shall be five, together and collectively holding at least 25 per cent of the total units of the InvIT, at all times,” Sebi said.

Explaining further, the regulator said a unit holder along with its associates and related parties will be considered as a single unit holder.

REITs and InvITs are relatively new investment instruments in the Indian context but are extremely popular in global markets.

While a REIT comprises a portfolio of commercial real assets, a major portion of which is already leased out, InvITs comprise a portfolio of infrastructure assets such as highways and power transmission assets.

As of March end, a total of 15 InvITs and four REITs were registered. Of these, six InvITs and three REITs were listed on the stock exchanges.

These investment vehicles collectively raised close to Rs 55,000 crore in 2020-21, taking their net assets to Rs 1.64 lakh crore.

The funds were raised through the initial offer, preferential issue, institutional placement and rights issues.

In a separate notification, Sebi has permitted banks, other than scheduled banks, to act as a banker to such issues, to provide easy access to investors to participate in public/rights issues by using various payment avenues.

Bankers to an issue means a scheduled bank or such other banking company as may be specified by Sebi from time to time, carrying activities including acceptance of application money, acceptance of allotment or call money, refund of application money and payment of dividend or interest warrants, the regulator said.

The new rules have become effective from July 30, it added.

The notifications come after the board of Sebi approved proposals in this regard in late June.



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