Considering the longish wish list of the Mutual Fund industry from the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2007, the document has come out as a bit of a downer. In fact, there is nothing much for the MF industry to write home about. It has rather come out as a mixed bag.
While the MF industry has been permitted to launch and operate dedicated infrastructure funds, the dividend distribution tax will hit the bottomline of MF players.
The clause that individuals can now invest in overseas securities through Indian Mutual Funds, this will infuse a lot of funds to the system adding to MF bottomline
Shortselling settled by delivery and securities lending and borrowing to facilitate delivery by institutions to be allowed. The FM has also brought in an enabling mechanism to permit Indian companies to unlock a part of their holdings as group companies for meeting their financial requirements by issue of exchangeable bonds.For more such reports, log on to www.moneycontrol.com