Governance of the demutualized stock exchanges

In the past, in almost all the stock exchanges, the broker members of the governing boards have been critical in the governance of the stock exchanges. The reconstitution of the governing boards of the stock exchanges by SEBI, which reduced the broker representation on these boards to 50%, had helped in making the boards more independent and minimized the influence of brokers. However, in most stock exchanges on account of the brokers retaining posts of the officer bearers of the stock exchanges till recently viz. president, vice-president and treasurer, they continued to play a dominant role in the management of the stock exchange. The fall-out of this practice has been that most stock exchanges have failed to develop good corporate governance practices and strong management teams. This has not only been a perception but also a reality in most stock exchanges. Conflicts of interest have bedeviled the operations of the Continue reading

Features of Negotiable Instruments

Negotiable Instrument, in law, a written contract or other instrument whose benefit can be passed on from the original holder to new holders. The original holder (the transferor) must countersign the instrument (as in the case of a cheque) or merely deliver it (as in the case of a bank note) to the new holder; the new holder is then entitled to the benefit of the instrument (in the case of a cheque, to the money from the bank; in the case of the bank note, to the sum promised on the note). According to section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, a negotiable instrument means “Promissory note, bill of exchange, or cheque, payable either to order or to bearer”. Major features of negotiable instruments are; Easy Transferability- A negotiable instrument is freely transferable. Usually, when we transfer any property to somebody, we are required to make a transfer Continue reading

Foreign Exchange Management Policy in India

Overview of Indian Foreign Exchange Policy Independence ushered in a complex web of controls for all external transactions through a legislation i.e., Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), 1947. There were further amendments made to the FERA in 1973 where the regulation was intensified. The policy was designed around the need to conserve Foreign Exchange Reserves for essential imports such as Petroleum goods and food grains. The year 1991 was an important milestone for the Economy. There was a paradigm shift in the Foreign Exchange Policy. It moved from an Import Substitution strategy to Export Promotion with sufficient Foreign Exchange Reserves. The adequacy of the Reserves was determined by the Guidotti Rule, though the actual implementation of the rule was modified to meet our requirements. As a result of measures initiated to liberalize capital inflows, India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves (mainly foreign currency assets) have increased from US$6 billion at end-March 1991 Continue reading

Use of Exchange Controls to Eliminate a Nation’s Balance of Payments (BoP) Deficit

The exchange control refers to a set of restrictions imposed on the international transactions and payments, by the government or the exchange control authority. Exchange control may be partial, confined to only few kinds of transactions or payments, or total covering all kinds of international transactions depending on the requirement of the country. The main features of a full-fledged exchange control system are as follows: The government acquires, through the legislative measures, a complete domination over the foreign exchange transactions. The government  monopolizes  the purchase and sale of foreign  exchange. Law eliminates the sale and purchase of foreign exchange by the  resident individuals. Even holding foreign exchange without informing the exchange control authority’s declared illegal. All payments to the foreigners and receipts from them are routed  through the exchange control authority or the  authorized  agents. Foreign exchange payments arc restricted, generally, to the import  of essential goods and service such Continue reading

History and Development of Currency Options and Futures

Options and Futures have been a feature of trade since ancient times. Futures and options have been around as long as there has been commerce, because commerce involves risk. In the last two decades or so, such risks have grown almost exponentially, and these volatile trading conditions have created substantial growth in the use of futures and options. In the global integration; the use of Futures and Options products has changed the financial world. Futures and Options are used to manage external business risks. It is therefore interesting to note that the phenomenal growth in their use coincided with the collapse of Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate regime and the suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. Exchange rates suddenly became much more volatile and because interest rates affect and are effected by exchange rates, so interest rates also became much more volatile. A method of managing risk was required. Continue reading

Value Net Framework

The Value Net Framework, also known as Coopetition Framework  is an analytical strategy tool  developed by Adam Brandenburger and Gary Nalebuff in 1996, combining strategy and game theory, in order to describe and analyze the behavior of multiple players within a given industry or market.  The Value Net Framework  is an alternative to Porter’s Five Forces framework,  extends the five forces framework more general by examining the role of complementors. The frameworks fundamental idea is that cooperation and competition coexist.  Cooperation and competition are both necessary and desirable when doing business. Cooperation is required to increase benefits to all players (focus on market growth), and competition is needed to divide the existing benefits among these players (focus on market share). Co-opetition Co-opetition  is a neologism representing the ambivalence of competition and cooperation in business relationships.  Co-opetition is part competition and part cooperation. It  describes the fact that in today’s business Continue reading