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Journalism of Courage
SEBI takes on companies
SEBI8217;s directives aimed at kick-starting the Central Depository for Securities of India CDSL by resolving the inter-connectivity issue between the two depositories could alter efficiency levels in the entire market. First, SEBI has ordered all exchanges to join both depositories 8212; the situation today is that not all exchanges had joined the National Share Depository. Secondly, it has ordered companies and their share transfer agents to complete inter-depository transfers in two hours flat.
Today most companies take weeks to comply with both share transfer demands and demat requests. Will companies comply with the order? The SEBI directive shifts the battle from the two rival depositories to an issue between the regulator and the corporate sector. It would worth observing how quickly and to what extent companies comply with SEBI8217;s directive. If they do, it will mean a drastic improvement in the entire share transfer process and benefit investors and depositories. If theydo not, it will lead to complete chaos.
Will another Karsanbhai Patel be able to do for Fairgrowth Financial Services what the first did for Nirma? The controversial Fairgrowth, deeply embroiled in the securities scam, has, after going through several hands, been taken over by one Karsanbhai Patel, a diamond merchant. It is learnt that Patel took over the shares that had been jointly purchased by another controversial figure 8212; Acharya Arun Dev, along with advertising man Nirmal Suchanti. The duo made a quiet and unsuccessful exit in favour of Karsanbhai Patel a year or more ago.
People connected to Fairgrowth say that Patel has quietly worked on settling several civil disputes and is on the verge of having the company de-notified by the custodian appointed under the Special Courts Act of 1992. In fact, Patel, who is said to have invested just around Rs 5 crore in buying the Fairgrowth equity, is expected to make a profit of Rs 30 crore 8212; provided he manages to avoidsettling the dues of unsecured creditors and is not forced to pay the entire interest due to banks after settling other disputes. It is not yet clear if Patel intends to revive Fairgrowth.
In the race for BSE hot seat
The fate of the last two executive directors has apparently not deterred either income tax officials or top bankers from vying for the BSE8217;s hot seat. On Friday, BSE interviewed candidates short-listed for the post. Interestingly, the list contained many bankers who are either currently with the SBI or had moved from SBI to other banks. There are also several financial services chiefs including the vice chairman of Times Guaranty. Also in the race is I-T Commissioner C P Ramaswamy, who first raided Harshad Mehta and was also on the Janakiraman panel who had narrowly lost the race last time to S B Mathur.
Changing Taj
Quiet and dramatic changes at the Taj Group of Hotels are leading to some interesting results. The good news, for the hotel staffers, is the change instyle of management. The new team post-Ajit Kerkar is apparently, informal but target oriented. It has opened up feedback channels from down upwards and from customers to management. The result: highly enthusiastic employees who claim that Taj employees these are line managers will show a big rise in productivity within a year. They cite the example of the groups8217; decision to sell its foreign properties 8212; the entire staff was called for a meeting on management priorities. Even the waiters will be able to tell you why the properties have been sold, says a manager, but admits that the group may miss the vision and rapid expansion of the Kerkar days. There is another negative too 8212; a corporate client has complained of deteriorating food standards 8212; but it is possible that this will be resolved too.
Author8217;s e-mail: suchetadalalyahoo.com
