MARKET regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), will help the mutual fund industry in its efforts to increase financial literacy, a senior Sebi official said. "Sebi is keen on focusing on investor education. It will help the mutual fund industry in its efforts to increase financial literacy," Sebi chairman, C B Bhave, said here. "Our big challenge is investor education and financial literacy. Investors should get the scheme information document in regional languages," Mr Bhave said. He said that the mutual fund industry was at the crossroads and should not expect results in six months. "It is always difficult to accept change but if you are confident that the change is good for the consumer you accept it eventually," Mr Bhave said. On the issue of financial literacy, he said that it is a big challenge due to the vastness and diversity of the country. The importance of having the messages (of financial literacy) in regional languages cannot be emphasised enough, he said.
NHAI, PFC file prospectuses, coupon rate not yet decided MORE debt investment options have opened up for investors with AAA rated tax-free bonds worth over Rs 14,000 crore lined up. The National Highway Authority of India ( NHAI ) and Power Finance Corporation ( PFC ) are offering Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 4,033.13 crore worth of tax-free bonds, respectively, as per prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Of a Rs 5,000 crore issue by PFC, Rs 966.87 crore has already been raised through private placement on September 28 and November 1. Tax-free bonds give investors tax-free return on any amount invested. In another kind of bonds, the long-term infrastructure bonds, investments up to Rs 20,000 are tax exempt, that is this cap amount can be deducted from the taxable income. Accordingly, the NHAI prospectus has clarified that only the amount of interest from -and not the actual investment on -its new bonds will be tax-free. "NHAI's publ...
