Mutual funds in India can separate distressed and illiquid assets in their portfolios to deal with any potential credit crisis, the market regulator said on Wednesday. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was in talks with the industry to allay fears of contagion effect on mutual funds due to a liquidity crisis faced by the country’s non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), its chief had said last week, Reuters reported.

Read more

Jaypee group’s homebuyers on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its August order which remanded the insolvency case against Jaypee Infratech (JIL) to the National Company Law Tribunal’s Allahabad bench to be started afresh. The homebuyers want the apex court to declare them “secured financial creditors” on a par with banks, the Financial Express reported. A bench led by Justice Madan B Lokur said it would come up for hearing before an appropriate bench.

Read more

Indian stocks are still holding on to gains for the year, but they’re evaporating fast. Exit polls last week from state elections were the latest hit to the market, sending the S&P BSE Sensex Index down as much as 1.8 percent on Monday, the most intraday since Oct. 19, Bloomberg News reported. The results showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is set for tight electoral contests in key states before next year’s general election, adding to uncertainties in a market already hurting from fluctuating oil prices and defaults at an infrastructure financier.

Read more

The head of India’s central bank abruptly resigned on Monday in the midst of a bruising battle with the prime minister over the institution’s independence and the future direction of the country’s financial sector, the Financial Times reported. Urjit Patel’s exit comes just days ahead of what was likely to be a contentious meeting of the Reserve Bank of India’s governing board, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demands for looser financial and monetary policies were scheduled for debate.

Read more

Vijay Mallya, the fugitive Indian tycoon fighting multiple cases in the U.K. after defaulting on loans, lost a bid to avoid extradition to his home country where he faces charges of fraud and money laundering, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Emma Arbuthnot ruled against Mallya at a hearing in London Monday, largely rejecting Mallya’s arguments that the case was politically motivated. "I do not accept the courts in India are there to do what the politicians tell them what to do," Arbuthnot told a packed courtroom.

Read more

Flows to India’s money funds hit a three-month high in November as calm returned to the credit market recently roiled by a rare debt default, Bloomberg News reported. Investors poured a net 1.4 trillion rupees ($20 billion) into liquid plans in November, industry data show. The inflow is the highest since August, a month before the funds suffered the worst outflows since at least 2007 amid defaults at the IL&FS Group. “Worries after that credit event are abating and people are returning to money markets,” N.S.

Read more

Jet Airways Ltd and second-largest shareholder Etihad Airways have been holding rescue talks with bankers of the indebted Indian carrier, three people aware of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Executives of the airlines met State Bank of India officials in recent days to discuss Jet's cash flow and business plan, two of the people said, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. One said Jet has outstanding dues of about $400 million (314.29 million pounds), mainly owed to lessors and vendors.

Read more

Etihad Airways is holding talks with Jet Airways Ltd and its bankers on a rescue plan for the debt-laden Indian carrier, two sources aware of the matter told Reuters. Executives from Etihad and Jet have met some of the airline's bankers in Mumbai in recent days to discuss ways to address its cash flow issues and evaluate the carrier's future business plan, the sources said.

Read more

Corporate treasury departments in India have become so concerned about credit risk they’re increasingly parking their cash in securities maturing overnight. Assets with overnight funds soared to 123 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) last month, from 39 billion rupees in September, as companies chose safety over returns in the wake of a rare debt default, data from Morningstar Investment Adviser India Pvt. show, Bloomberg News reported.

Read more

India’s massive pile of bad business debt has kept asset-reconstruction companies busy in recent years. But as signs emerge that the supply of such assets may be leveling off, the nation’s largest buyer of bad loans is considering a rare move to start purchasing soured consumer debt, Bloomberg News reported. Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co. is setting up a team for that and seeks to start purchases in 2019, Chief Executive Officer Raj Kumar Bansal said in an interview. “Corporate non-performing assets have plateaued,” Bansal said.

Read more