Cost Of Trading In India, capital markets have been playing a vital role in determining the fate of the economy and helping it to grow further. In capital market, stock exchanges are a vital institution and are known to be an important intermediary which provides an organized marketplace for transparent price discovery and helps in […]

Capital Market A capital market is a market for securities which can be either debt or equity, where business enterprises which includes companies and governments can raise long-term funds. In other words it is defined as a market in which money is provided for a period of more than a year. The capital market includes the stock market where the equity securities are traded and the bond market where […]

For Foreign individuals

a) The idea may be bad as well as Indian stock markets are a quagmire of bad corporate governance and corruption.Insider trading and manipulation is quite rampant which has made retail investors flee the market.

b) They will be faced with foreign exchange volatility which can be quite high.In dollar terms the Indian market fell by almost 35% in 2011.

c) Some sectors are notorious for corruption with even professional fund managers avoiding real estate because of accounting shenanigans and indian small cap stocks being like casino games rather than companies

India’s Supreme Court took over the investigation of vast amoutnof black money stashed in foreign money accounts from the compromised government.The ruling Congress party has proven to be remarkably reluctant to take action against corruption and black money despite huge pressure from the civil society and the judiciary.The government itself has ministers who are highly corrupt with a telecom minister in jail and the textile minister who may be on the way as well.Other ministers like the Agricultural Minister Pawar has repeatedly surfaced in numerous scams rocking the country.The Supreme Court has also taken the government to task for granting a retail banking license to the Swiss giant bank UBS.Note UBS had not been given a license as it was under suspicion for facilitating the movement of ill gotten money into Swiss bank accounts

Proprietary Trading by Foreign Banks and Brokerages has been allowed by the Finance Ministry overruling India’s Central Bank RBI.There seems to be no logical reason given by the Ministry despite RBI objecting saying that it will affect the financial stability and lead to increased speculation in the Indian stock markets.Note Properietary Trading refers to trading in financial assets by investment banks using their money and has come under the regulatory glare in the US.Huge conflicts of interest arise due to this practise as brokerages can indulge in front running and other unethical and illegal acts.Already major investment banks like Goldman have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars over improper trading acts.Proprietary Trading encourages brokerages to mislead and defraud customers as they are generally on the other side of the trades and advising them as well.

The Indian Stock Market saw a flash crash on the morning of 20th June at 10 am.The market which started weak at 9 am fell by almost 3% in 10 minutes.The main index Nifty which was trading at around 5350 crashed to around 5200 in around 10 minutes.The market recovery by 1% but is again starting to go down to the low levels fo 5200 .Note the Indian stock market has been hammered due to worries on inflation,massive endemic corruption which is facing protests from the civil society.The FIIs which are the main buyers of Indian equities in the last year or so seem to have abandoned the Indian stocks as QE2 starts ending and global risks like Greece,US slowdown,inflation and interest rates worries in emerging markets come to the fore.Note Indian stock markets are not the easiest to invest in with scams and scandals happening regularly and it at best remains a market in which you have to choose between the bad and the ugly.