Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has debarred five entities from dealing in securities for three years for rigging the price of m/s Dhanalaxmi Lease Finance Ltd's scrip on the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange. The entities are Dr Amit Shah, m/s SR Investments, Arvind K Shah, Kishore Barot and M/s Akash Shelter and Finstock Ltd. The price of Dhanalaxmi Scrip had varied between Rs 45 to Rs 225. Sebi, in a statement in Mumbai on Wednesday said investigation prima facie revealed that certain entities were involved in price manipulation and unfair trade practice in the scrip of Dhanalaxmi. Sebi said the entities violated sebi regulations on fraudulent and unfair trade practices.

NSE wholesale debt market 5 years old

The wholesale debt market (WDM) of the National Stock Exchange which brought the revolutionary screen-based trading in the debt market in the country today completed five years of its service. The WDM which commenced market operationson June 30, 1994 witnessed an impressive growth over the past four years. The volume of NSE has increased multifold in the last four years while average daily volume has increased from Rs 30 crore in the year 1994-95 to Rs 500 crore in the year 1998-99. The increase in volume has been accompanied with increased activity on the exchange. The number of trades which were around 5 per day in 1994-95 has gone up to 59 trades per day in 1997-98, with the average member of trades reaching a level of 1402 trades per month. The screen-based trading in debt market segment was a revolutionary step by nse since prior to the commencement of trading in wdm segment of the exchange, the only trading mechanism available in debt market was the telephone market.

Venture capital fund launched

The Rs 24-crore Sicom Venture Capital Fund, which will have an initial focus on software industry, was launched in Pune on Wednesday. The fund is sponsored by Sicom, Sidbi, The Western Bank and the Ratnakar Bank Limited. WhileSicom holds the maximum share of Rs 12 crore, Sidbi owns Rs 10 crore in the fund. The remaining two banks have a stake of Rs one crore each, Sicom chairman Subhash Dandekar told reporters. The fund would invest in unlisted companies having one to three years revenue record.

Skindia GDR index down 0.24 per cent

The Skindia GDR Index, representing GDRs of 17 actively trading companies decreased by 0.24 per cent from 787.95 to 786.10 on June 29, 1999 as per the Skindia GDR index with a base January 03, 1995 equal to 1000. The Skindia GDR index p/e ratio was 32.57 as compared to 32.78 Skindia finance, a Mumbai-based broking and research house specialising in Indian GDRs quoted in a press release on Wednesday.

Gilt funds to be launched

The domestic mutual fund market is going to be soon flooded with gilt funds. Prudential ICICI and Canbank Asset Management Company's have filed their prospectus with Sebi for a gilt fund. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund was the first to launch a gilt fund, followedby Dundee MF and Templeton MF. Sun F&C Mutual Fund has also filed a propectus with Sebi for such a fund.