MC Insider: Brokers making a killing from peak margin rules, chemical cashouts, PSU bank race, upset mutual fund manager and more

The recently introduced peak margin norms may be causing heartburn to most traders, but it seems to have come as a windfall to some of the less scrupulous brokers. These brokers are said to be asking clients for additional margins when either it is not required, or more than what is required. Rather than get into an argument during trading hours, most clients pay up. In some instances, the brokerages offer to fund the additional margins through their NBFC arms, thereby earning an extra income besides the usual broking commission. Barring a two or three broking firms, none has a user-friendly margin calculator on their websites or apps that allows clients to cross check if the call for extra margins is legitimate. The NSE website has a tool but one which many of the recent entrants to the market are unaware of.

One of the top retailers in the country has been steadily upping its game in the food business, without drawing too much attention. Not surprising, given the reclusive of nature of the owner who believes in his cash registers making all the noise. And now the chain is said to be firming up big plans for its unlisted e-commerce subsidiary as well. A little birdie told MC Insider that some loyalists of the founder have been allotted shares of the e-commerce subsidiary recently.

This segment in the industrials space has enjoyed a helluva lot of attention ever since the big-bang entry of a new player with deep pockets. While many suitors may be targeting south India for a potential deal, we are picking up that a leading aggregator seems to have zeroed in on a target in central India and is very close to signing the dotted line. Talk about swimming against the tide!

In recent times you may have noticed this trend as part of which promoters of chemical companies are selling stake in the secondary market. While investors are really bullish on the shift from China & now Europe 1+ opportunities, they are also scratching their heads and wondering why these promoters are cashing out. We hear this trend may not end anytime soon and that there are a few more block deals on the cards in this space.

The race to the top position of this large public sector bank is well and truly on. The government has called in applications but we hear chances are that the frontunner is likely to be from the State Bank group; a person with over two decades of experience in the industry who has a good standing among peers. However, this isn't going to be a cakewalk for him. There are others too, stronger candidates, who are likely to put their hats in the ring. The whole process is likely to take a few months. We will keep you posted for sure!

Word on the street is that this senior mutual fund manager is rather upset with a certain regulatory body. Reason: a case of alleged betrayal of trust; at least that's how the manager perceives it. At the heart of the matter is the decision to extend the repayment date of a few schemes linked to the securities of a rather problematic corporate group a while ago. The manager claims he and his team had a meeting with the regulator to discuss the decision to delay the payment date arguably in the interest of investors. Yet, after the decision was announced, the said regulator slapped the fund house with penalties for this decision citing breach of rules. While we are not privy to the regulators version of the saga, the manager is rather upset with this development which he deems unfair and buzz is that a long legal battle is likely.

The country’s premier healthcare institute, AIIMS in Delhi, got a new chief recently who apparently has been brought here after engineering a turnaround at another health institute he had been heading. True to his reputation, the technocrat has taken some tough decisions aimed at instilling discipline at the institute and created quite a buzz within days of taking charge. The latest decision is banning security guards responsible for maintaining order in the campus, from running errands for professors-doctors and enjoying refreshments themselves during duty hours! This was quite rampant at the institute, say medicos, which sees thousands of patients flocking every day from different parts of India to seek cure for their ailments.

The SIAM Auto convention took place for the first time post Covid and goes without saying the venue was choc a bloc with industry honchos. However, some companies were conspicuous by their absence. That includes a leading Indian OEM, two Japanese OEMs , two European carmakers and a leading two-wheeler major. When Moneycontrol tried to dig deeper, a well informed source said this is just a precursor to stay away from the limelight and that includes pulling out of the Expo'23 to be held at India Expo Mart. While two companies unofficially said they have nothing to boast about due to limited sales, others said they their products' demand is so robust that is keeping them busy.