Says Vivek Seth, country head, capital markets group, BGFL, "We have financed investors for several bank issues including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, UTI Bank, Corporation Bank and Indus Ind Bank. As far as Times Bank is concerned, we will take a firm decision in a day or two." As far as the SQL Star issue is concerned, BGFL had decided to offer loans to its clients as early as April when the issue actually opened in June.

The delay in the decision regarding the Times Bank issue appears to have been due to the fact that a number of banks that went public recently quote below their offer prices onthe bourses.

BGFL only decides to fund those issues which it feels will give substantial returns to its investors. Explaining how the company evaluates an offering, Seth says, "We are not in the business merely to make money for ourselves. In order that we continue to be favoured by our clients, we need to ensure that they too, benefit from our products. Therefore, as a practice, the capital market group analyses every public offering carefully before we decide which ones we will finance. We look at the lead managers, the people behind the company and the registrars to the issue. Only if we find that all the three meet our expectations, do we agree to finance the issue. Besides, we invite independent opinions regarding the prospects of the company in question, as well."

When it was pointed out that some of the bank issues that the company had financed currently quote below their offer prices, Seth retorts, "Our product has been designed to enable our clients to make reasonable returns. All the bankscrips that we had financed did yield substantial returns to the investors initially. It is only later that some of them depreciated."

BGFL appears to have received several requests from its clients for loans to apply for Times Bank shares. It is the growing number of such requests that seem to have prompted the company to take a look at the Times Bank issue.

One of the reasons for the investor interest in the stock is that the stock is attractively priced. As against the price earnings multiple of 15 for the UTI Bank issue and 9 for the IDBI Bank issue, Times Bank shares are being offered at a discounting of 5. The fact that a profit making company is being offered at par is going well with the investors. Market watchers expect that the issue will be oversubscribed and should list at a sizable premium. Investors would be able to earn good dividend yields as well. Yet there are others who point out that a 3.01 per cent net NPA figure for a bank that has had just three full years of operations do not augurwell and the scope for appreciation of the bank's shares is limited.