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New Delhi: <keyword id="19900795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="foreign-investors" source="keywords">Foreign investors</keyword> pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around USD 11.2 billion) from the Indian <keyword id="19925636" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stock-market" source="keywords">stock market</keyword> in October, making it the worst-ever month in terms of outflows, triggered by the elevated valuation of domestic equities and attractive valuations of <keyword id="20295104" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chinese-stocks" source="keywords">Chinese stocks</keyword>. Before this, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs 61,973 crore from equities in March 2020. The latest outflow came after a nine-month high investment of Rs 57,724 crore in September 2024. Since June, FPIs have consistently bought equities after withdrawing Rs 34,252 crore in April-May. Overall, FPIs have been net buyers in 2024, except for January, April and May, data with the depositories showed. Looking ahead, the trajectory of global events like geopolitical developments, interest rate movements, progress in the Chinese economy and the outcome of the US Presidential election will play a crucial role in shaping future foreign investment in <keyword id="20014814" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-equities" source="keywords">Indian equities</keyword>, Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director, Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India, said. On the domestic front, key indicators like inflation trajectory, corporate earnings, and the impact of festive season demand will also be closely watched by FPIs as they assess opportunities in the Indian market, he added. According to the data, FPIs recorded a net outflow of Rs 94,017 crore in October. The intensity of net outflows could be gauged from the fact that except for one day, FPIs were net sellers throughout the month, bringing their total investment for 2024 down to Rs 6,593 crore. This relentless selling resulted in about an 8 per cent decline in benchmark indices from their peaks. Several factors contributed towards this massive withdrawal of foreign capital from the Indian equity markets in October. The major among them is the elevated valuations of Indian equities. This has triggered a shift in investments towards China, where valuations are currently more attractive. Additionally, a series of stimulus measures, aimed at bolstering Chinese economic growth has made Chinese equities increasingly appealing to global investors, Srivastava said. Despite the massive FPI selling in financials, this sector is resilient since the valuations are fair and every selling is being absorbed by DIIs and individual investors, particularly HNIs, VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said. In addition, FPIs pulled out Rs 4,406 crore from the debt general limit and invested Rs 100 crore from the debt Voluntary Retention Route (VRR) during the period under review. So far this year, FPIs invested Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the debt market.

FPIs withdraw record Rs 94,000 cr from Indian equities in Oct on attractive Chinese valuations

<div type="image" title="For the unversed, trading in futures and options can be akin to setting their hard-earned money on fire" height="900" width="1200" msid="114064202" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;For the unversed, trading in futures and options can be akin to setting their hard-earned money on fire&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Once upon a time, there thrived a wild, wild land. Here, it was all about super high monetary stakes, lightning-fast trade deals, and bucketloads of money shifting hands every single second. This wilderness lured millions of individuals with the promise of super duper high returns. But, at what cost? Welcome to the unforgiving, ultra-risky wild west of <keyword id="19991165" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-equity-markets" source="keywords">Indian equity markets</keyword> called the <keyword id="145718" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Futures-and-Options" source="Orion">futures and options</keyword>. Here, everyone seems to just fly right through the bright red-flagged warnings of financial risks to earn even a fraction of these promised returns. Most burn themselves in the process, but carry on nevertheless, as if nothing ever happened. <h2>Chasing the cloudy profits</h2>The data conclusively proves that every 9 out of 10 individuals only lost their hard-earned money in this land. But hey, what do the numbers know? Some hide their losses out of shame, some out of fear. The proponents, meanwhile, proudly boast unusually high returns on their investments, some open social media channels while others encourage their friends and family to take the plunge. Naturally, news of this unstoppable and humongous en-masse migration to the F&amp;O (futures and options) town has reached sheriff <keyword id="19901201" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SEBI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="SEBI" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="SEBI">SEBI</keyword>, galvanising them into action. After all, it was time to put a leash on this madness and save the common man. The inhabitants of this town doubled in the last 2 years, from 51 lakh in FY22 to 96 lakh in FY24—99.8% of whom were small and mid-income traders. But profits? Well, that's a different, rather completely absent story. <h2>Que Sera Sera, much?</h2>A recent report by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) that studied profits and losses made by traders in the equity derivatives segment between FY22-24 exposed the mad mania of futures and options trading in India, especially since the pandemic. Per the report, 91.1% of individual traders, or about 73 lakh traders had only lost money trading in futures and options in FY24. Between FY 22-24, over 1 crore traders, or about 92.8% of individual traders, had lost Rs 2 lakh each. But once bitten, twice shy? Well, not in this case. More than 75% of individuals, who had only made losses trading in F&amp;O in FY22 and FY23, continued to trade vigorously in FY24 as well, without any changes in the bottom line, which remained deep in red and negative. So, then all these traders must be uber-rich, with tons of cash and not much care to spare? Nope. 76% of traders in the F&amp;O space in FY24 had an annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh. 2 years ago, their share stood at 71%. And their choice of poison? Options! In FY24, 60% of traders made losses trading in futures, but a whopping 91.5% burnt their funds trading in options. Mind you, futures are riskier than options. With futures, which require significant capital investment, the buyer and seller both are contractually bound to adhere to the pre-determined strike price of the futures or options contract, irrespective of whether the prevailing prices are higher or lower (and thus, resulting in losses for either the buyer or seller). With options, since this adherence ain't necessary, individuals end up taking debt to take highly leveraged positions while trading here. <h2>Scale of the explosion</h2>Anyone who trades even infrequently will tell you that a demat account is the mitochondria or powerhouse of the trading cell. As of August 2024, India had over 17.1 crore <keyword id="20957284" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="demat-accounts" source="keywords">demat accounts</keyword>, which are a prerequisite for trading in the markets. India is the 9th biggest country in the world, in terms of total demat accounts. Did you know that our demat accounts are at par with the entire population of Bangladesh? Talk about scale! Just 4 years ago, in March 2020, this number was a mere 4 crore. Naturally, the total F&amp;O turnover on both <keyword id="20004725" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NSE" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NSE" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NSE">NSE</keyword> and BSE has hit the roof, and also broken it. As of October 4, 2024, the total futures and options turnover on NSE stood at a massive Rs 4,78,27,27,750.30 crore. Good luck counting the thousands! <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Year </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total Turnover (Both Futures and Options) (In Rs Crore) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2020-21 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">64,36,03,951.51 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2021-22 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1,69,52,33,134.47 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2022-23 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3,82,23,26,468.06 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2023-24 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7,99,27,67,152.43 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source : NSE Another metric that underlines the meteoric growth of trading in India is the collection of STT or <keyword id="20930760" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Securities-Transaction-Tax" source="keywords">Securities Transaction Tax</keyword>. As of September 2024, India's STT mop-up had gone past Rs 26,000 crore. Traders have to pay STT whenever they buy or sell any security in the market. So, more trading brings in more STT, and hence, more revenue for the government, so they're not really complaining. After all, this is certainly what they'd call enviable growth. As of August 2023, our STT collection stood at about Rs 21,599 crores. And in FY20-21, India's STT collection had been Rs 16,000 crore. If only our salaries also managed to grow at this rate! <h2>So, what's happening?</h2>Two things. One, it's the big bulls who are raking in all the moolah. And it's the younger lot (those aged under 30) who are propping them up for this. In FY24, 43% of individual traders in the market were less than 30 years of age. In just one year, this number has swelled by 12 percentage points from just 31% of individual traders. But who says ageing is bad? Wrinkles and silver hair seemingly have a propensity of incurring lesser losses in the market. In FY24, only 79% of traders aged above 60 years made losses, as compared to 93% of those aged below 30. Small and mid-income traders, which make up 98% of the total trader base, witnessed average losses per person of Rs 65,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh in FY24 in futures and options, respectively. The winner here? Clearly, the big bulls, who declared an annual income of over Rs 1 crore, ended up with average profits of Rs 96,000 per person this year. <h2>What’s the sheriff up to?</h2>The government has finally swung into action, hiking the STT rate for F&amp;O during this year’s budget. Effective October 1, 2024, the STT on futures stands at 0.02%, up from 0.0125%. For options, it was upped to 0.1% versus 0.0625% previously. Small margins, but huge impact oncoming. Says Puneet Sharma- CEO and Fund Manager at Whitespace Alpha, “SEBI aims to enhance market stability while safeguarding investor interests, reflecting the regulator's intent to balance risk management with market participation”. But this might come with its own share of challenges, too. “Stricter norms around leverage, transparency, and capital adequacy could limit the ability of investors to determine their own risk appetite, thereby stifling innovation in trading strategies. Over-regulation in an environment that thrives on strategic flexibility and creativity could dampen the market’s dynamism, affecting India's competitiveness in the global derivatives landscape”, he observes. SEBI recently came out with a set of guidelines that aim to thwart <keyword id="19972907" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="retail-investors" source="keywords">retail investors</keyword>' participation in futures and options and hinder them from taking undue risks. Here's a quick recap of what's to come for the residents of the F&amp;O town Margin Requirements: To battle the high volatility and chaos which is generally seen on expiry days(i.e the last mandated date, post which an option becomes invalid), SEBI will put in place an extreme loss margin (ELM) of 2% for all open short options on the day of expiry. Translation? Traders will need to pony up more cash upfront, leaving them with fewer funds to take on risky bets. It ain't a choice: No more of one expiry every single day! Going ahead, an exchange like BSE or NSE will just be able to offer weekly expiries, that too, only on one benchmark index, as opposed to an entire buffet it currently offers. At present, NSE offers weekly options contracts for its financial index, bank and midcap indices. But say goodbye to this, and hello to derivatives on only 1 index per exchange. Raising the bar: Effective November 30, 2024, the minimum contract value for index derivatives will be upped to Rs 15 lakh, from the present Rs 5-10 lakh. The hope is that by making it ultra-expensive to enter these trades, investors will be dissuaded from taking on risky trades. Pay upfront: Starting February 2025, those trading in options will have to pay the entire options premium upfront, even before their trades are executed. This is because options generally carry very high leverage, and paying a significant sum upfront can force traders to think twice. Invigilation Pro Max: Starting April 1 2025, to make sure that the number of positions for equity index derivatives does not slyly slip over the mandated limit, especially on expiry days when trade volumes are huge, the exchanges will have to take a minimum of 4 position snapshots randomly. The question is, will these injections of sobriety be enough to calm down the steroid-fed bull of the futures and options market in India? Well, only time and market turnover will tell! For more insights into the financial markets and business news, stay tuned to our site and social media handles. And don’t forget to subscribe to Business Insider India’s newsletters for your weekly dose of Simply Put! Disclaimer: The content on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. We recommend readers consult certified, qualified and registered advisors for professional and personalised financial advice.

SIMPLY PUT: SEBI is on a mission to take on the wild, wild west of futures and options in India. Here’s why, what, and how

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Roblox's stock dropped 10% after short-seller Hindenburg accused it of inflating user numbers.</li><li>Some of Hindenburg's previous reports have led to SEC investigations and indictments.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-ad-launch-hires-measurement-ecommerce-partnerships-2024-4">Roblox</a> came under attack this week when a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://hindenburgresearch.com/roblox/">report</a> from the prominent short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of inflating user numbers and failing to protect children from predators. The gaming platform's stock temporarily dropped about 10% following the report.Hindenburg is a forensic research firm that makes money by betting against companies it targets and benefiting from the Securities and Exchange Commission's whistleblower program. It's published reports on other tech companies that have led to SEC investigations and indictments.But investors seem to have largely shrugged off this report. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-not-allowed-my-child-kids-why-explained-2024-10">Roblox</a> stock closed at $41.60 on Friday, slightly above where it was earlier in the week when Hindenberg published its research.On its face, the report sounds bad.Titled "Roblox: Inflated Key Metrics For Wall Street And A Pedophile Hellscape For Kids," it accused the gaming platform popular with kids of inflating its user numbers in public reports by 25% to 42% by counting multiple accounts held by the same person. It claimed bots are "rampant on the platform," which inflate its user counts. It also renewed criticisms that Roblox had — through a lack of sufficient content moderation — exposed children to grooming, pornography, violent content, and abusive speech.In a <a target="_blank" href="https://s27.q4cdn.com/984876518/files/doc_news/2024/Oct/08/hindenburg-statement-final.pdf">statement</a>, Roblox countered that its daily user count isn't a measure of individual people, that it works to eliminate fraud from the platform, and takes user safety seriously. The company further said its top line is growing, with bookings, or sales of virtual currency, up 22% to $955.2 million in the second quarter.In the wake of the report, Wall Street and investors seemed to largely stick by the company. This week, Piper Sandler raised its price target on Roblox, while Wedbush Securities maintained its outperform.That's likely because — despite Hindenberg's claims — some investors see Roblox as having growth potential and strong user engagement. Piper Sandler published new data this week showing that 46% of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-leads-most-used-app-among-us-teens-survey-2024-10">surveyed</a> teens actively used Roblox, up from about 31% a year ago. Wedbush Securities underscored in a note that Roblox's bookings (a proxy for revenue) are taking off. The firm also sees a lot of advertising upside for Roblox, given that 80% of its engagement is in free-to-play games.Roblox, which primarily makes its money from sales of online currency and items, has been working to grow its advertising business. The same day the Hindenburg report dropped, Roblox announced a new partnership with the ad giant WPP. This week, Roblox took the stage at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/advertisers-gen-ai-hype-turning-to-skepticism-2024-10">New York's Advertising Week</a>, one of the industry's biggest conferences, as part of an effort to build what it says <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/roblox-ad-launch-hires-measurement-ecommerce-partnerships-2024-4">could be a $1 billion ads business</a>. WPP declined to comment.The child exploitation stuff sounds bad, though, right?There's generally broad agreement in the industry on the importance of keeping kids safe online and a sense that Roblox <a target="_blank" href="https://superjoost.substack.com/p/robloxs-hindenburg-moment">could do more</a> to combat dangerous actors. But seemingly every major social platform has faced issues of predatory behavior, hate speech, and pornography — and for all <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/officials-looking-at-roblox-and-fortnite-for-buyer-beware-approach-2024-4">the legal</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/us/instagram-facebook-children-subscriptions-predators.html">scrutiny</a>, the problems have not been fully solved.Child-safety claims about Roblox similar to those in the Hindenburg report had also already been documented in places like Bloomberg <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-roblox-pedophile-problem/">Businessweek,</a> which published a wide-ranging investigation on the subject in July."We knew there was a pedophile problem and scams in Roblox," said Ron Kerbs, the CEO and founder of online child safety company Kidas. "It's almost like an 'I told you so' moment."<h2 id="d6886112-ac24-4da9-88b6-e745771a7298">The report could hinder Roblox's ad business</h2>Despite Roblox's nearly immediate stock recovery and support from Wall Street, the report and related issues could have implications for Roblox's advertising business. Its ad business is barely a rounding error today, but Roblox is still not profitable, so it's trying hard to change that.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/12-companies-that-help-advertisers-reach-gamers-without-annoying-them-2022-4">Advertisers increasingly recognize</a> the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/discord-grow-ad-business-video-format-ipo-2024-10">value of games</a>, and Roblox's pitch is that it reaches a highly engaged audience of hard-to-reach young people. In February, it reported 71.5 million daily active users, 58% of whom were over 13. Walmart, Warner Bros. Pictures, and E.l.f. Beauty are among the marketers to have run video ad tests on Roblox.Roblox still has to overcome some marketers' perceptions that it's just a place for gaming rather than a cultural destination and assure them that advertising won't be shown to young kids. A watchdog group has already <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/roblox-criticized-by-childrens-advertising-watchdog-8694a53b?mod=article_inline">accused</a> Roblox of not adequately disclosing ad content in games to kids.But as we've seen before with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and more, advertisers have found it hard to quit platforms that have large, engaged audiences — safety issues or not.Still, Roblox isn't entirely out of the woods. Short-seller reports like this often attract regulator interest, said Jeremy Goldman, senior director of client briefings at Emarketer (BI shares a parent company with Emarketer). And advertisers will hold Roblox to a higher standard as a challenger platform."If Roblox doesn't get its house in order, it could face the same advertiser retreat that's hit other platforms, and potential government action could make things even more precarious," he said.

Why Roblox investors are shrugging off a blistering short-seller report

Markets regulator <keyword id="19901201" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sebi" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Sebi" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Sebi">SEBI</keyword> has asked the <keyword id="20677983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-fund-industry" source="keywords">mutual fund industry</keyword> to proactively conduct stress tests, a key component of <keyword id="20383727" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="risk-management" source="keywords">risk management</keyword> for the financial sector, which will help strengthen the ecosystem, its whole-time member Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan said on Friday. The regulator's stress testing emphasizes the need to assess and manage liquidity risks, especially in small and midcap equity schemes. Speaking at a mutual fund event, Gopalakrishnan highlighted the importance of modelling stress scenarios not just for individual schemes or fund houses, but for the entire mutual fund ecosystem. "It is also important to model stress scenarios for the entire composite mutual fund ecosystem. I would strongly encourage the industry and <keyword id="20090036" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AMFI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="AMFI" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="AMFI">AMFI</keyword> to take the lead and proactively conduct objective and credible industry wide stress tests. themselves," Gopalakrishnan said. He also emphasized the need to find better ways to communicate the risks associated with different mutual fund schemes. The SEBI official mentioned that while the current risk measurement system is straightforward and has had a significant impact, it doesn't fully capture the differences in risks among various investment schemes. According to him, many schemes are just labelled as high risk, even though they have different kinds of risks. The goal is to improve this system to better reflect those differences, while keeping it simple and easy to understand. One possible approach is to consider the portfolio's volatility and liquidity from stress tests to give a clearer picture. "While ensuring simplicity and ease of understanding remains a key objective, perhaps the underlying volatility of the portfolio along with the liquidity of the portfolio from stress tests could be used to provide better colour all around," he added. This comes at a time when the holdings of mutual funds by <keyword id="20234284" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="domestic-institutional-investors" source="keywords">Domestic Institutional Investors</keyword> (DIIs) and individuals have risen from about 54.3% of free float of all mid cap and small cap companies, as of March 2020 to 60.6% as of March 2024. Several fund houses have proactively stopped lump sum investments in some small-cap schemes and also capped the amount that can be invested through <keyword id="20675888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="systematic-investment-plan" source="keywords">Systematic Investment Plan</keyword> (SIP) into small-cap schemes. He also highlighted the potential mismatch between the demand for paper and the supply of fresh paper coming into the ecosystem. Gopalakrishnan said the industry can make more progress in streamlining operations and improving efficiency for investors. "At a time when instantaneous fund transfers have become ubiquitous in our country, perhaps we should look to improve our internal processes and the security settlement ecosystem, to ensure that funds are passed on to investors on the day of the settlement itself, rather than a day after or two days after," he added. Over the last few years, the mutual fund industry has made impressive strides, and is now playing a crucial role in channeling financial savings towards risk capital formation. This was driven by stable macros, increased formalization, robust corporate earnings, digitisation and user friendly access. Moreover, the number of mutual fund investors has grown significantly from about 2 crore as of March 2019 to nearly 4.7 crore as of June 2024, an impressive compounded annual growth rate of 18% during that period. Gopalakrishnan mentioned that several exciting initiatives are in the works, developed with input from all stakeholders. These include a proposed low-ticket SIP, further breaking down regular SIPs into smaller, more accessible units (sachetisation and tokenization), and the introduction of "mutual funds lite" regulations. These new regulations will simplify rules for passively managed funds, reducing the compliance burden and encouraging competition and innovation. Additionally, a new class of higher-risk schemes is proposed for investors with a greater capacity to handle risk.

SEBI asks mutual fund industry to proactively conduct stress test

A bill seeking to provide for four nominees by a bank account holder was introduced in the <keyword id="19895394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Lok Sabha" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Lok Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> on Friday to ensure better protection of depositors and enhance customer convenience. Introduced by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lower House, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has a provision for simultaneous and successive nominations to bank accounts, lockers, etc. As per the provision of the bill, a bank account holder can nominate up to four persons. The bill also seeks to transfer of unclaimed dividends, shares, and interest or redemption of bonds to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), allowing individuals to claim transfers or refunds from the fund, and thus safeguarding investors' interests. As the banking sector has evolved over the years, and with a view to improving bank governance and investor protection, it has become necessary to make certain amendments to five Acts, according to Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill. The Bill, which was approved by the <keyword id="19916620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Cabinet" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Union Cabinet" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Union Cabinet">Union Cabinet</keyword> last week, proposes to amend the <keyword id="20824389" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India-Act" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India Act</keyword>, 1934, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the State Bank of India Act, 1955, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980. The proposed bill seeks to improve governance standards, provide consistency in reporting by banks to the Reserve Bank of India, ensure better protection for depositors and investors, improve audit quality in public sector banks, bring customer convenience in respect of nominations, and to provide for increase in the tenure of the directors in co-operative banks. Another proposed change relates to redefining 'substantial interest' for directorships, which could increase to Rs 2 crore instead of the current limit of Rs 5 lakh, which was fixed almost six decades ago. Congress member Manish Tewari opposed the introduction of the bill, saying the power to legislate with regard to cooperatives vests with state governments. RSP member N K Premachandran opposed amending five legislations through one bill, while TMC member Saugata Roy termed the bill "superfluous", saying the the amendments proposed in the bill could have been done through administrative decisions. Responding to opposition's remarks, <keyword id="19956758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-Minister" source="keywords">Finance Minister</keyword> Nirmala Sitharaman said the various amendments done in Banking Regulations Act with respect to <keyword id="20814377" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cooperative-banks" source="keywords">cooperative banks</keyword> are not just one or two but several. "Simple understanding is we are not touching any aspect of the cooperatives other than that which claims under the name of banking...the sections which have been brought in for amendments, as also the court verdicts, have repeatedly reinforced the point that Banking Regulation Act and the Cooperative Banks do have this relationship and therefore it has to be taken through this route," she said. Otherwise, there is no attempt to undermine the cooperatives, particularly cooperatives dealing with everything other than banks, she said defending the Bill. The bill proposes to increase the tenure of directors (excluding the chairman and whole-time director) in cooperative banks from 8 years to 10 years, so as to align with the Constitution (Ninety-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2011. Once passed, the bill would allow a director of a Central Cooperative Bank to serve on the board of a State Cooperative Bank. The bill also seeks to give greater freedom to banks in deciding the remuneration to be paid to statutory auditors. It also seeks to redefine the reporting dates for banks for regulatory compliance to the 15th and last day of every month, instead of the second and fourth Fridays. "What's the rationale behind it? The current reporting Friday system has several limitations that impact the accuracy and effectiveness of the reporting of data. "These limitations are incomplete coverage of monthly data, seasonal fluctuations in banking activity which lead to inconsistent reporting, and the need for adjustment every 11th year which introduces complications and inconsistencies. That is why, in order to address the issue, it is proposed to amend the legislation," she said. The announcement about amendments to the Banking Regulation Act was made by the Finance Minister in the 2023-24 Budget speech. "To improve bank governance and enhance <keyword id="22728161" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investors-protection" source="keywords">investors' protection</keyword>, certain amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, the Banking Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act are proposed," she had said.

Bill to provide up to four nominees to a bank account introduced in Lok Sabha

Both mid-cap and small-cap mutual fund schemes have continued to attract significant investor interest, having garnered about Rs 30,350 crore in inflows during the April-September period of the current financial year. Last year, as data from <keyword id="6359050" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AMFI" source="Orion">AMFI</keyword> showed, the total inflows in both these segments during the same period were only marginally higher at Rs 32,924 crore. Data from Value Research suggests that mid-cap funds have generated 46.25% returns over the past year, while small-cap funds have yielded returns worth 44.17% during the same time. This is far better than their 3-year returns, which stand at 20.67% for midcaps and 21.64% for smallcaps. The returns further moderate over 5 years to 32.44% for small caps and 27.94% for midcaps. Inflows in mid- and small-cap funds have only grown from strength to strength during the current year, despite market watchdog <keyword id="35210" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SEBI" source="Orion">SEBI</keyword> repeatedly highlighting the high risks both these categories entail. Between January and March 2024, small-cap funds saw inflows worth Rs 6,085.27 crore, while mid-cap funds were a little behind, garnering inflows worth Rs 4,887.05 crore. Between April and June this year, small-caps saw inflows worth Rs 7,196.8 crore. At the same time, midcaps saw inflows worth Rs 6,926.60 crore. In line with this increase in inflows, the number of investors (folios) in the two schemes shot up by 1.32 crore year-on-year to nearly 4 crore in the six-month period ended September 30, 2024. Since 2020, the small-cap universe (i.e., companies with a market cap of less than Rs 2000 crores) has grown nearly fourfold, offering investors a wide range of investment opportunities. Data from Trust Mutual Fund also shows that small-cap funds have also emerged as great generators of long-term wealth. Between August 2014 and August 2024, the <keyword id="6354813" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nifty" source="Orion">Nifty</keyword> 100 total return index (TRI) has yielded a CAGR of 14.7%. In contrast, the Nifty smallcap 250 TRI has registered a CAGR of 18.2% "Small caps will continue to grow at a faster rate for years to come. I expect the inflows to continue as Indians want to invest in the high-growth sectors. Small-cap funds should be seen as an integral part of one's portfolio allocation and not a tactical play," Trust Mutual Fund CEO Sandeep Bagla told PTI. Individually, mid-cap funds saw an inflow of Rs 14,756 crore, and small-cap funds attracted Rs 15,586 crore in the first half of FY25. This aggregates the total inflow to Rs 30,342 crore, the data showed. In addition, the stress test in March 2024 has also played a role, reinforcing confidence by ensuring that fund managers are prepared to handle market volatility, Feroze Azeez, Deputy CEO, Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd, said. "With the mid-cap and small-cap segments projected to grow at 20 percent and 25 percent, respectively, in FY25, we expect inflows to remain strong, especially as SIP inflows continue to hit new peaks," he told media.

Investors pour in Rs 30,350 crore in mid and small cap funds in the first half of 2024

The union budget for 2024 introduced a slew of changes that will directly impact your pocket in the days to come. FM Sitharaman brought about significant changes in how your capital gains were taxed. Take a look at how this will impact your pocket. First off, what are capital gains? Simply put, any gains or profits you make when you sell a capital asset like your properties, investments in stock or mutual funds and more is counted as capital gains. What sets capital assets aside is their ability to generate monetary value over a long period. Depending on the time period they are held for before they are sold, <keyword id="20584761" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="long-term-capital-gains" source="keywords">long-term capital gains</keyword> (LTCG) or <keyword id="20584760" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="short-term-capital-gains" source="keywords">short-term capital gains</keyword> (STCG) is applicable. So, what has changed? In one sharp move, <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> pushed up the long-term <keyword id="20301441" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="capital-gains-tax" source="keywords">capital gains tax</keyword> from 10% previously to 12.5% now. Moreover, <keyword id="22142879" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indexation-benefit" source="keywords">indexation benefit</keyword>, which reduced the total tax outgo from the investor's hands, also went away with these proposed changes. As for short-term capital gains tax, it was decreased to 15% from its previous rate of 20%. However, to ease the pain, the maximum exemption amount for long-term capital gains in a single year was increased from Rs 1,00,000 previously, to Rs 1,25,000 now. All listed securities will be considered long-term capital assets (and hence, LTCG will be levied) if they are held for a period of 12 months. For unlisted securities and other immovable properties, LTCG will be applicable post 24 months of holding them. Bonds, debentures and gold will have also have a holding period of 24 months, from the earlier duration of 36 months, in order to be eligible for long-term capital gains tax. What does indexation mean? Indexation allowed <keyword id="19900618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investors" source="keywords">investors</keyword> to account for inflation, by adding the same to their initial purchase price. This would result in a higher purchase price, significantly lowering the overall gains. But now, capital gains tax will be calculated at the actual purchase price (ouch!) with no scope to factor for inflation, which would mean a higher tax outflow from the investor's pockets. This benefit has been done away with for real estate and gold. Under indexation benefit, it is not your initial purchase, or acquisition price that is taken into consideration, but rather your indexed cost of acquisition that comes to play. This is calculated using the CII of the sale year and the purchase year. This helps in adjusting the purchase cost of your property for inflation when you are selling it. The government calculates and notifies the public of the CII (cost inflation index) every year. For instance, Aditya's father purchased a property worth Rs 40,00,000 in 2009 (FY2009-10). In 2004 (FY2024-25), he decides to sell this for around a crore. How will his tax liability be calculated? First, lets consider that he had indexation benefit. By that, his indexed cost of acquisition (there's a long formula to this) would be Rs 98,10,810, making his long-term gains at Rs 1,89,189. So, 20% of this would come down to Rs 37,837. But lets also consider if he did not have this indexation benefit. While indexation benefits have been done away with starting July 23rd, 2024, lets assume this rule came into effect at the very start of FY25, or 1st April, 2024. This would mean your total capital gain would be 12.5% of Rs 60,00,000, or a staggering Rs 7,50,000. What are the experts saying? Nilesh Sharma - President &amp; Executive Director, SAMCO Securities sees this as a double whammy which leaves much to be desired on the investors front. "It seems govt wants share in investors’ profit. At a time when the equity indices are at an all-time high, the government has tried to take a share out of the growth and the profits earned by the investors by increasing both the STT rates on derivatives and an increase in STCG and LTCG", he notes "The removal of indexation benefit for LTCG will also impact the real estate industry and will slow down the resale of residential flats /lands. There is a fear that it may also increase the proportion of cash transaction in real estate deals, which will be again be counterproductive. The government has not announced any major changes for the individual tax payers except a slight change in the tax slabs and a minor increase in the standard deduction. This too, is however applicable only in the new tax regime, leaving nothing for the tax payers who have opted for the old tax regime", continued Sharma. Palka Arora Chopra, Director, Master Capital Services Ltd notes that the removal of indexation benefits might negatively impact investor returns, leading to a short-term bearish outlook for the sector. "While the 25% increase in the Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax is manageable and not likely to deter investors significantly, the increase in short-term capital gains (STCG) tax from 15% to 20% could have a more pronounced negative impact in the medium term", she continued.

Decoding capital gains taxes: What FM Nirmala took from your pocket, what she gave you in Budget 2024

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Billionaire investor Ray Dalio says he is worried by global debt levels and central bank policy.</li><li>Returning to "artificial low real rates" could cause a depreciation in debt value, Dalio said.</li></ul>Yesterday, the Federal Reserve made a jumbo rate cut, its first cut in over four years as the central bank shifts its focus from fighting inflation to holding the job market together. Yet, billionaire investor Ray Dalio isn't convinced that the Fed and other central banks' moves to lower rates will address the big problem: surging debt levels. Dalio said the amount of debt held by governments around the world is historically unprecedented, and could lead to a depreciation of debt as central banks push borrowing costs lower.Dalio is increasingly worried by "the enormous amount of debt that is being created by governments and monetized by central banks," particularly in the US, he said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."Global debt held by governments, companies, and individuals is estimated to be around $315 trillion, according to data from the Institute of International Finance."Those magnitudes have never existed in my lifetime," he said.And the value of debt could depreciate if central banks keep lowering interest rates, Dalio said."I see a big depreciation in the value of that debt through a combination of artificial low real rates, so you won't be compensated," he said.The US has accumulated debt totaling $35.3 trillion, which Dalio called " enormous.""The challenge of the Federal Reserve is to keep interest rates high enough that they're good for the creditor, while keeping them not so high that they're problematic for the debtor," he said.Dalio said the US will likely continue monetizing its debt, and likened the trajectory to that of Japan, which kept rates low, depreciating the yen. "I think as time goes on, the path will be increasingly toward monetizing that debt, following a path very similar to Japan," he said."The value of a Japanese bond has gone down by 90% so that there's a tremendous tax through artificially giving you a lower yield each year," he said.

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