Security Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: A new class of high-ticket investment products, positioned for higher-risk investors, is drawing participation from cities beyond the top 30, early data shows.SIFs, introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in February 2025, were pitched as products for investors with a higher risk appetite than mutual funds, with a minimum ticket size of ₹10 lakh.About 53% of investors in Specialised Investment Funds (SIF) are from beyond the top 30 cities, or B30 locations, according to an analysis by Computer Age Management Services (CAMS). These regions account for roughly 33% of total SIF assets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Many informal migrants who had returned to their villages during the covid lockdowns stayed back after the pandemic ended, which led to an increased share of India’s employed population working on farms. Disrupted supplies of affordable cooking gas in wake of the Iran conflict have restarted a slow but worrying reverse migration of informal workers to villages.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has returned Ujjivan Small Finance Bank’s application to upgrade to a universal bank, sending a clear signal to the industry: meeting financial criteria is not enough. The regulator is placing heavy emphasis on the diversification of loan books, a move that will force other hopefuls to reassess their transition timelines.Ujjivan was among the three small finance banks (SFBs) that had applied to the central bank to transition to a universal bank.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Big investors are no longer content to just back funds, they increasingly want to invest directly in the deals those funds pursue.In India’s private markets, this push for co-investment rights is giving limited partners (LPs) more control over where their money goes and better economics, while encouraging fund managers to offer such access to secure commitments and execute larger deals. What was once optional is quickly becoming standard in fund negotiations.“Co-investment has become almost a common ask by investors in any new fund raise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Indian international racer Jehan Daruvala is switching tracks. The fourth-generation scion of the Sterling and Wilson Group has hung up his racing suit to join the family business.The 27-year-old now competes to secure new business contracts and races against deadlines to complete projects. The career move comes as a renewable energy and data centre boom has turned around the prospects of the Sterling and Wilson Group, which specializes in constructing solar power plants and data centres.“I think this is also a fast track.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Last week, Anthropic announced that its latest artificial intelligence (AI) model, Claude Mythos, was too dangerous to release. In testing, the company discovered that the model could unearth thousands of hitherto unknown security vulnerabilities in many of the software applications, operating systems and web browsers that the world depends on.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.There is angst in the air about the US dollar’s once and future global role. For insight into the greenback’s prospects, pundits have looked to the British pound sterling, the dollar’s predecessor as the dominant international currency, and asked how economic stagnation, heavy debts and failed geopolitical adventures, like that in Suez in 1956, conspired to rob it of its global role.But informed observers can draw on a much longer history of international currencies—units used in cross-border transactions—stretching from the Dutch guilder of the 17th and 18th centuries back to the Florentine florin of the 14th and 15th centuries and the silver denarius of ancient Rome.In fact, it can be argued that the Roman denarius was the first true international currency.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The initial public offering (IPO) market is preparing for an era of superjumbo listings that threatens to shift the earth’s financial axis. With SpaceX reportedly filing for a market debut that could eclipse Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion record in size, the stakes have moved beyond mere capital raising.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The 10-year government securities yield climbed from 6.68% on 27 February 2026 — a day before the US-Iran conflict broke out — to 7.1% by 2 April, before easing slightly to 6.98% as of 13 April.The spike has pushed long-duration debt mutual funds into negative territory, with the category down an average 1.11% since the war began.Long-duration funds, classified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as those with a Macaulay duration of more than seven years, are among the most interest rate-sensitive debt fund categories. When rates fall, bond prices rise and investors gain; when rates rise, the reverse happens, leading to mark-to-market losses.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table, fearing President Trump’s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes, Arab officials said.The blockade is aimed at raising the pressure on Iran’s already crippled economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: India plans to prepare an Approved List of Battery Manufacturers (ALBM) to be the exclusive equipment vendors for government-supported energy storage schemes and projects, following a similar mandate for the solar sector. The goal is to ensure the country’s energy security by encouraging local manufacturing and reducing reliance on imports.The government may announce its plans for ALBM and introduce draft norms for localization in the current fiscal year, two people familiar with the matter said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Digital lending firms regained some momentum in FY26, as unsecured lending picked up and growth stabilized after a regulatory-led slowdown the previous year, industry executives and analysts told Mint.The rebound follows a muted FY25, when tighter regulations, rising costs and weakening credit quality sharply slowed expansion. Loan growth, for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with assets under management (AUM) below ₹15,000 crore, fell to about 13% in FY25 from around 36% a year earlier, according to a November 2025 report by Icra Ltd, as unsecured lending and microfinance segments contracted.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Portfolio management services (PMS) firms have asked the market regulator to widen their investment universe, as the segment struggles to keep pace with rival products, four people aware of the discussions said.Key demands include allowing investments in unlisted markets and permission to participate as anchor investors in initial public offerings (IPO), both currently restricted for PMS structures.Currently, only non-discretionary PMS allows up to 25% allocation to unlisted securities, such as alternative investment fund units, real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts. Discretionary PMS, which accounts for 92% of total PMS assets as of February, is not allowed to invest in unlisted securities.The push comes as PMS growth trails mutual funds and alternative investment funds (AIFs), with industry executives pointing to tighter investment rules, operational constraints and tax friction as factors hurting competitiveness in India’s asset management market.“Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) is keen on growing this segment and making PMS a platform for wealth management.

Nifty 50 revenue growth at 10–13% year-on-year in Q4, broadly maintaining Q3’s momentum. But the nature of revenue growth is expected to have changed during the latest quarter.While festive demand, tax cuts and discretionary spending supported revenues in the October-December quarter, the March-quarter growth is likely to be driven more by higher realisations in metals and energy, even as underlying consumption trends turn uneven.

NEW DELHI: India is moving to position its QR (Quick Response) code-based payment system on the global stage. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has introduced fresh norms covering biometric authentication, QR code-based payments and digital currency security to reduce fraud risks and enhance interoperability according to two people aware of the development.The move is intended to strengthen safeguards in India’s rapidly expanding digital financial ecosystem and build confidence among developed economies, where QR code payments are still a novelty, the people said.The rapid expansion of digital payments, biometric-based authentication systems and QR code transactions in India has raised concerns over fraud, identity theft, data misuse and vulnerabilities in the digital payment infrastructure.

₹500- ₹2,000 crore, in the past month, according to investment bankers and deal advisors familiar with the matter.While the trend is becoming become more visible, intermediaries Mint spoke to declined to name any companies, citing dealmaking competition and confidentiality agreements governing the mandate shifts."I am seeing IPOs with new liquidity worth anywhere between ₹500 crore to ₹2,000 crore, turn into dual tracks over the last 30 days," a deal advisor working with IPO-bound companies told Mint on the condition of anonymity.This shift follows a cooling investor appetite amid global uncertainty, which has slowed listing activity. As a result, companies have now begun seeking alternative routes to provide liquidity to shareholders and founders."The current environment is not conducive for launching IPOs," said Samir Bahl, chief executive of investment banking at Anand Rathi Advisors.

₹1.20 trillion even as the markets turned volatile, according to a February Care Edge report. A meaningful share of these borrowed positions is concentrated in relatively illiquid stocks, where MTF outstanding is several times the daily trading volume.This is not merely a story about rising leverage. It is a window into a larger regulatory blind spot.Financial regulation is designed to protect individuals.

shipbuilding and expand India's maritime capabilities, strengthen national security, and boost domestic industry.“To operationalise the Shipbuilding Cell's mandate effectively, there is an urgent requirement for 15 naval architects with specialized expertise in shipbuilding, technical assessment, strategic planning, digital infrastructure, and investment facilitation. These naval architects will serve as the technical backbone of the Shipbuilding Cell, providing hands-on expertise in policy development, yard assessment, market analysis, project development, and implementation support,” an official at the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways said, requesting anonymity.“This engagement is structured to attract two distinct categories of naval architects based on experience levels, ensuring a balanced team composition with both senior strategic guidance and intermediate technical execution capability,” the official added.The second person said that the Directorate General of Shipping is transitioning into the Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) under the new Merchant Shipping Act with the expanded mandate to include digital administration, green energy, and enhanced maritime security.The DGMA is expected to house the dedicated Shipbuilding Cell to develop India's shipbuilding and ship repair capacity, attract domestic and international investment, facilitate policy implementation, and support strategic maritime sector growth.

. in New York. The typical 20- to 30-year retirement can stretch to 35 years or more with an age gap.Even when families recognize that extended timeline, advisors say they often underestimate how costs evolve.“They don’t tend to think about the full cost of bringing up and educating children,” or the time it can take to fully launch them, said Dan Beckerman of Beckerman Institutional in Ocean Grove, N.J.That disconnect can have consequences.

The RBI’s monetary policy committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, reflecting the wait-and-watch approach adopted by global peers such as the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and European Central Bank amid the war in West Asia. The RBI pegged FY27 GDP growth at 6.9% under the new GDP (gross domestic product) series, down from FY26 growth estimate of 7.6%. The central bank flagged risks from Strait of Hormuz disruptions and high energy prices.

Indian pharmaceutical companies are expected to report muted performance for the March quarter (Q4FY26), weighed down by a decline in sales in the US market, while the domestic market is expected to have remained robust.The end of exclusivity for the high-margin Revlimid in the US in January has led to significant price revisions and lower volumes, impacting companies that depend on the product, despite some support from rupee depreciation.An ICICI Securities report projects companies in its coverage to post revenue growth of about 7% year-on-year, lower than about 10% in the first nine months of FY26. While domestic sales growth is expected to be strong at 13.6%, US revenue in dollar terms is projected to drop by about 7%, partly compensated by the rupee’s fall.