MW_HeaderMainNav.ascx MW_SearchSubNav MW_BreadcrumbNav
MW_ArticlePageView

India's corruption crackdown

By Annunziata Rees-Mogg May 25, 2006

Annunziata Rees-Mogg

At the end of last week, there was a “panic reaction” in India as regulators suspended 24 brokers, A. Balasubramaniam, chief investment officer of Birla SunLife, tells BusinessWeek. However, the regulator’s move was “a long-term positive and should help clean up the market”, he says.

The scandal broke after tax investigators took a look into the affairs of the businessman Rupalben Panchal and Sugandh Investments. They had declared income of just £1.6m (130m rupees), rather than the £12.2m they had actually made, says Dean Nelson in The Sunday Times.

According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), “financiers had colluded to corner the market in lucrative flotations by filing thousands of applications in false names”, says Nelson. The Sensex fell 500 points on the news.

However, the Securities Board claimed the crack-down was good news. “We want to send a signal that the market here is safe,” said Ravi Chandra, SEBI’s general manager.

Analysts agreed. They said that “the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong, so the decline in the market would be short term”, said BusinessWeek.

MW_RelatedArticlesFooter MW_MoneyMorningSubscribeFooter.ascx

FREE - MoneyWeek's daily investment emailJohn Stepek

Our free daily email, Money Morning, is an informative and enjoyable analysis of what's going on in the markets. Written by our Deputy Editor, John Stepek, and guest contributors.
Sign up FREE to Money Morning here.

MW_SideNav MW_SideAdvert