Also known as Participatory Notes, P-notes by their nature are opaque to Indian regulatory bodies. This was an investment instrument which was favored by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) due to this very nature. There was a lot less scrutiny on where the funds were coming from and who the real investor was. P-notes are a cousin of exchange traded funds (ETFs) which also do not make it easy for regulators to know who is invested into it and what the source of funds are. The brokerage houses did not need to know much details on the source of funds. It was also used by high networth individuals (HNIs) who were evading taxes in their home countries such as US, Canada, UK and the like.
Most of the institutions that were issuing these securities are registered in tax havens. The large players in this trade include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, CLSA, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
So what happened, why are these P-notes starting to hit the Indian markets you ask?
The answer is that now the regulatory bodies are starting to question the source of funds and the investors' motivations.
Since now the Indian regulators see that they don`t need P-notes to upsell India to the world, they are now getting stricter. So much so that in 2007 the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned any further issuance of this opaque investment vehicle.
One would have to think that the sell-out that the market is experiencing now, in early 2011 is inevitable. One way of looking at this sell out that has caused the SENSEX - Indian 30-stock sensitive index - to fall the most in last 5 months, could be profit booking.
So in essence even though the markets have tumbled a bit in early January of 2011, the thought that it would continue does not hold much fundamental value. If a certain type of investment vehicle is no longer issued, it means that now new money is coming in the economy through this. The only side to securities that are not longer welcome, is down side.
This could be a good time for savvy investors to start to buy in since the blue chips would have lost some value in this "limited" blood-bath.
Most of the institutions that were issuing these securities are registered in tax havens. The large players in this trade include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, CLSA, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
So what happened, why are these P-notes starting to hit the Indian markets you ask?
The answer is that now the regulatory bodies are starting to question the source of funds and the investors' motivations.
Since now the Indian regulators see that they don`t need P-notes to upsell India to the world, they are now getting stricter. So much so that in 2007 the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned any further issuance of this opaque investment vehicle.
One would have to think that the sell-out that the market is experiencing now, in early 2011 is inevitable. One way of looking at this sell out that has caused the SENSEX - Indian 30-stock sensitive index - to fall the most in last 5 months, could be profit booking.
So in essence even though the markets have tumbled a bit in early January of 2011, the thought that it would continue does not hold much fundamental value. If a certain type of investment vehicle is no longer issued, it means that now new money is coming in the economy through this. The only side to securities that are not longer welcome, is down side.
This could be a good time for savvy investors to start to buy in since the blue chips would have lost some value in this "limited" blood-bath.
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