Marking its entry into the lucrative broking space of the Indian market, HSBC , through its subsidiary HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) is buying out 73.21% stake in broking and investment banking firm, IL&FS Investsmart for around Rs.1000 crore at Rs.200 per share.

HSBC will acquire 43.85% stake from the largest shareholder, E*Trade, Mauritius and 29.36% from IL&FS. HSBC will also pay Rs 82 crore to IL&FS for a 3-year non-compete agreement.

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ADAG’s financial distribution arm, Reliance Money Limited has struck a unique tie-up with McDonald’s for distributing its financial products at the latter’s outlets in northern India.

Through the tie-up, Reliance Money will install Financial Desk at McDonald’s outlets which will offer products such as Free Trading account, Gold Coin retailing, Mobile Financial Portal and Reliance Money Express to customers and even assist them in opening a Reliance Money Account.

If the concept becomes successful, the idea may be extended nationwide.

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Indian equity investors never had it so good. After multiplying their capital, thanks to the tremendous bull run, they can now even trade in shares without paying any brokerage fees thanks to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Money.

All demat account holders of Reliance Money (owned by Reliance Capital) could trade in shares for value upto Rs.5 lakh in one year without any brokerage. Thereafter investors would have to pay Rs.500 for trading up to Rs.1 crore (for 2 months) or Rs 2,500 for Rs.6 crore (for a year).

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Indian investors can now do global hunting for investing in equity shares by choosing among the blue chips such as Microsoft, IBM, Wal-Mart, Coca Cola and Google.

India’s number one online trading site, ICICIDirect.com has launched its overseas trading facility for Indian investors to invest upto $2 lakhs in a financial year in Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Stock Options, Index Options.

ICICI has launched the service in partnership with Penson Financial Services which is USA’s fourth largest broker having $6.8 billion in assets. The portal will provide option to invest in US stock exchanges such as NYSE, NASDAQ and American Stock Exchange.

For registering for this service, a one time fees of Rs. 99 is to be paid and money is remitted to USA through ICICI Bank. The facility is only available to resident individuals and not available to corporate, partnership firms, HUF, Trusts, and NRIs.

ADAG’s Reliance Money was the first company to launch overseas trading facility  in partnership with CMC Markets but that was only for derivatives segment.

Thus, ICICI Web Trade has become the first to offer ‘delivery-based’ overseas trading service. Though in derivative segment, trading in futures is not allowed, RBI prohibits investing overseas for use in margin trading.

India’s biggest bank, State Bank of India has launched electronic broking through its subsidiary SBI Cap Securities for retail and institutional clients.

SBI Caps is also offering trading in futures and options and eventually would also offer commodity trading under its broking umbrella.

It seems off late, SBI seems to be quite fascinated with ICICI Bank as after declaring its intention of raising funds for expansion, plans of listing its insurance subsidiary, it has now decided to provide better customer satisfaction by providing better services and greeting its customers with a smile. Though, it would be a tough act to follow considering the orientation of existing employees.

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The trend is catching on. Most of the Indian stock broking players are reducing their dependence on pure broking services to ofeering value-added services.

After Motilal Oswal, Edelweiss, India Infoline, its now Angel Broking which is in talks to sell 20% of its stake to Private Equity investors such as Lehman Brothers, Warburg Pincus and Carlyle Group. Angel intends to raise Rs.200 crore valuing it at Rs.1000 crore.

Angel Broking currently has a 3% market share and intends to scale up its business by opening new branches and launching new products. [via] 

An expanding equity and debt market, booming M&A space, increasing investor participation has attracted the fancy of top global broking houses by paying heftily to get quality equity research and investment banking talent in India.

After E*Trade – IL&FS Investsmart, BNP Paribas –Geojit Securities, Stanchart – UTI Securities, Citigroup Venture Capital – Sharekhan, the deal buzz is that Enam Financial Consultants and Brics Securities could be lapped up by Japanese investment bank Nomura Holdings and US based Lehman Brothers respectively.

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London based and emerging markets focused bank Standard Chartered Plc. has acquired 49% stake in Securities Trading Corporation of India (STCI) owned UTI Securities, having 170 branches across India, for Rs. 140 crores valuing the company at Rs. 285 crores. Stanchart would increase its stake to 74% next year and the remaining 26% in 2009.

UTI securities was acquired by STCI, a primary dealer in Government securities corporate bonds, from the erstwhile Unit Trust of India for Rs 265 crore in February 2006 and was allowed to use the UTI brand for two years. Standard Chartered is returning to retail stock broking in Asia for the first time in more than a decade.

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Gone are the days, when all the financial matters were left up to the husband and women took least interest in planning and investment decisions. But modern retro women are ultimate multi-taskers and are not averse in being a better half when it comes to managing money. They efficiently shoulder all the family financial responsibilities with their husband alongwith household jobs.

The best way to make money in the long term is to identify your talents and skills and put them to good use to earn the maximum. Working from home is not a limiting factor. If you are a good artist or have interest in cookery or dances, you can start the classes for the same. If you are a qualified C.A., start by writing accounts for small clients. For those good at selling skills, direct marketing for products like Amway, Modicare, Tupperware, Avon etc. is a nice option. Moreover, internet today opens a myriad opportunities right from online share trading to selling hand made items across the world through Ebay. Taking up such a career will provide with a decent regular income.

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