Merchant Banking Services: Corporate Counseling

Corporate counseling denotes the advice provided by the Merchant Banking to the corporate unit to ensure better corporate performance in terms of image building among investors, steady growth through good working and appreciation in market value of its equity shares. The scope of corporate counseling, capital restructuring and, portfolio management and the full range of financial engineering includes venture capital, public issue management, and loan syndication, working capital, fixed deposit, lease financing, acceptance credit, etc. However counseling is limited to only opinions and suggestions and any detailed analysis would form part of a specific service. The scope of corporate counseling is restricted to the explanations of concepts, procedures and laws to be observed by the client company. Requirement of any action to be taken or compliance of statutory formalities to be made for implementation of those suggestions would mean the demand for a specific type of service other than corporate Continue reading

Major Participants and Players in Financial Markets

In the financial markets, there is a flow of funds from one group of parties (funds-surplus units) known as investors to another group (funds-deficit units) which require funds. However, often these groups do not have direct link. The link is provided by market intermediaries such as brokers, mutual funds, leasing and finance companies, etc. In all, there is a very large number of players and participants in the financial market. These can be grouped as follows : The individuals: These are net savers and purchase the securities issued by corporates. Individuals provide funds by subscribing to these security or by making other investments. The Firms or corporates: The corporates are net borrowers. They require funds for different projects from time to time. They offer different types of securities to suit the risk preferences of investors’ Sometimes, the corporates invest excess funds, as individuals do. The funds raised by issue of Continue reading

What is Over Capitalization?

Concept of Over Capitalization The phrase ‘Over Capitalization’ should not be confused with excess of capital. Truly speaking, over capitalization is a relative term used to denote that the firm in question is not earning reasonable income on its funds. According to Bonneville, Dewey and Kelly, when a business is unable to earn a fair rate of return on its outstanding securities, it is over capitalized. Thus over capitalization refers to that state of affairs where earning of the corporation do not justify the amount of capital invested in the business. The main symptom of over capitalization in a company is the amount of earning which it is making on its total capital. Thus, a company is said to be over capitalized when it earns less than what it should have earned as fair rate of return on its total capital. To ascertain whether the company is earning reasonable rate Continue reading

Different Types of Securitized Instruments

Pass Through Certificates and  Pay Through Certificates There is no uniform name for the securities issued by the  special purpose vehicle  (SPV)  as such securities take different forms. These securities could either represent a direct claim of the  investors on all that the SPV collects from the receivables transferred to it: in this case, the securities are called pass through certificates as they imply certificates of proportional beneficial interest in the assets held by the SPV. Alternatively, the SPV might be re-configuring the cash flows by reinvesting it, so as to  pay to the investors on fixed dates, not matching with the dates on which the transferred  receivables are collected by the SPV. In this case, the securities held by the investors are  called pay through certificates. 1. Pass Through Certificates In case of pass through certificates payments to investors depend upon the cash flow from the assets backing such Continue reading

The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis

Derivative contracts are probabilistic bets on future events, they are securities with a price that are dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. Many people argue that derivatives reduce systemic problems, in that participants who cannot bear certain risks are able to transfer them to stronger hands. These people believe that derivatives act to stabilize the economy, facilitate trade, and eliminate bumps for individual participants. We have now reached the stage where those who work in finance, and many who work outside finance, need to understand how derivatives work, how they are used, and how they are priced. For this reason, derivatives are at the center of everything. However, in 2008 the world witnessed a financial and economic hurricane that left massive financial and economic damages. It was universally recognized as the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. The old saying has it that success has Continue reading

Merchant Banking Services: Project Counseling

Project counseling services may be rendered independently or maybe, it relates to project finance and broadly covers the study of the project and offering advisory assistance on the project viability and procedural steps for its implementation broadly including following aspects: Identification of potential investment avenues. A general view of the project ideas or project profiles. Advising on procedural aspects of project implementation. Reviewing the technical feasibility of the project. Selecting Technical consultancy Organization (TCO) for preparing project reports and market survey. Assisting in the preparation of project report. Assisting in obtaining approvals, licenses, grants, foreign collaboration etc., from government Capital structuring. Arranging and negotiating foreign collaborations, amalgamations, mergers and takeovers. Assisting clients in preparing applications for financial assistance to various national and state level institutions banks etc. Providing assistance to entrepreneurs coming to India in seeking approvals from the Government of India. In addition to above, the facility providing guidance Continue reading