Mirae Asset will allow purchase or redemption of units of its equity or fund of funds schemes through the BSE StAR mutual fund platform

Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) on Wednesday said that it has tied up with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to provide its investors the facility to transact in Mirae Asset Mutual Fund (MF) units through the new mutual fund platform of the Exchange.

"Mirae Asset's arrangement with the BSE will facilitate quicker settlement of transactions and provide a single window to investors," the company's chief executive, Arindam Ghosh, said.

The asset management company (AMC) will allow purchase/redemption of units of its equity/fund of funds schemes through the BSE StAR mutual fund platform, it said in a press release.

The BSE StAR MF is an electronic platform introduced by the BSE for transacting in units of mutual funds.

The schemes available for transacting on the BSE StAR MF platform are Mirae Asset India Opportunities Fund, Mirae Asset Global Commodity Stocks Fund and Mirae Asset China Advantage Fund, the release said.

Trading members of the BSE, who are AMFI-certified stock exchange brokers and also empanelled with the AMC can help investors to subscribe and redeem the mutual fund units using their existing network and order collection mechanism provided by the BSE.

Currently, the window for purchase/redemption of units on the Exchange will be available between 9am to 3pm.

 
Hiring activity of Indian corporates was up 17% in February with telecom and auto sectors leading the rebound, a report by leading job portal Naukri.com said, reports PTI.

Job portal Naukri.com's monthly Job Speak survey reflected renewed optimism among recruiters, with the new job index moving up to 947 in February compared to 808 in January.

This time the portal has introduced its new and expanded job index, which takes into account not only the jobs posted online by its clients but also those made by them with the help of the website's tele-calling team.

A year-on-year comparison of the job index shows a 14% growth in February this year compared to the same month last year.

"Recruitment activity accelerated in February, reflecting underlying strength and positive momentum in the job market. The 'cautious optimism' that pervaded throughout the last year and a half has evaporated as most industry sectors are now looking to hire," Info Edge chief operating officer Hitesh Oberoi said.

Hiring activity for the top 10 industry sectors saw positive growth last month with telecom registering a 27% growth in the reviewed month compared to the same month last year.

The recruitment in IT-software and auto sectors moved up by 24% and banking and insurance rose 14% in February, the report said.

The IT sector has been witnessing a rapid growth in hiring and this trend is also reflected in the demand for IT software professionals, where the functional area job index moved up 24% in February.

Professions in sales and accounts also witnessed an increase in hiring by 18%-19% in February over January, the Naukri.com report said.

Overall, the index seems to be moving in a robust manner with hiring moving up across all industry verticals, functional areas and cities.

Among cities, Hyderabad emerged most bullish on hiring, with the city-wise job index moving up 25% in the last month. Chennai witnessed a growth of 21%, Delhi 12% and Bengaluru 11% in February.

Hiring activity for Kolkata picked up 21% last month, after two successive months of dips in the index.
 

StanChart is planning to raise up to $1 billion (over Rs4,500 crore) by June through Indian Depository Receipts

Global banking giant Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) on Wednesday said that it is planning to raise up to $1 billion (over Rs4,500 crore) by June through Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), reports PTI.

"We remain keen to pursue our intent to have an IDR offering. We are looking at quarter two (April-June 2010) and we are looking at $500 million to $1 billion," Standard Chartered Bank (South Asia) chief executive Neeraj Swaroop said on the sidelines of an event on microfinance.

The offering is subject to the market conditions and the Bank will have to take the final decision on it, he said. The IDR would be issued by parent entity Standard Chartered PLC.

Like American or Global Depository Receipts (ADRs/GDRs), where Indian companies raise resources overseas, IDRs enable foreign companies to do the same from India.

ADRs or IDRs are derivative instruments that derive their value from the shares deposited with custodians. The foreign companies deposit shares with a custodian, who in turn issues depository receipts based on these shares. The receipts are based on the ratio of shares equivalent to depository receipts.

The government notified the IDR rules in 2004. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) norms too are in place for a number of years now.

SEBI guidelines permit only those companies listed in their home market for at least three years and have been profitable for three of the preceding five years for IDR issues.

Standard Chartered Bank plans to file the draft red herring prospectus with SEBI towards the end of March, Mr Swaroop had earlier said.

The Bank has appointed a host of investment bankers including Goldman Sachs, UBS, JM, Kotak Mahindra, SBI Capital and DSP Merril Lynch, to advise it on the proposed IDR issue.

In November last year, StanChart Global chief executive Peter Sands said that the proposed IDR issue would enhance the lenders commitment to the local market.

StanChart has over 94 branches in 37 cities in the country and a combined customer base of around 20 lakh retail customers, among others.

The Bank has operations in an array of verticals, including consumer and wholesale banking, private banking and small and medium enterprises (SME) banking.