The share of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in domestic capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes) have dropped to a five year low of Rs 1.35 lakh crore at the end of July, due to tough rules put in place by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This was the lowest level since July 2012, when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs 129,586 crore. According to the SEBI data, total value of P-note investments in Indian markets including equity, debt and derivatives, at July-end, has declined to Rs 135,297 crore, from Rs 165,241 crore at the end of June. Prior to that, the total investment value through P-notes stood at Rs 180,718 crore in May-end and Rs 168,545 crore in April-end.
Of the total, P-note holdings in equities at July-end were at Rs 100,887 crore, while in debts and derivatives were at Rs 26,188 crore and Rs 8,222 crore respectively. The quantum of FPI investments via P-notes decreased to 4.4 percent in July from 5.7 percent in the preceding month. P-notes are issued by registered Foreign Portfolio Investors to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock markets without registering themselves directly. They however need to go through a proper due diligence process.
The markets regulator SEBI, in July, had notified stricter P-notes norms stipulating a fee of $1,000 that would be levied on each instrument to check any misuse for channelising black money. Also, the regulator prohibited FPIs from issuing such notes where the underlying asset is a derivative, except those which are used for hedging purposes. The move follows after the board of SEBI in June approved a proposal in this regard. These measures follow a slew of other steps taken by the regulator in the recent past. Besides, in April, SEBI had barred resident Indians, NRIs and entities owned by them from making investment through P-notes. The decision was a part of efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework for P-notes, which have been long seen as being possibly misused for routing of black money from abroad.
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