Question on Money Market and Capital Market

What are Treasury Bills (TB)?

Treasury bills are categorized as money market instruments, issued when the government needs money for a shorter period. It has a maximum maturity of 364 days. Treasury bills are presently issued in three maturities, namely, 91 days, 182 days, and 364 days. Treasury bills are zero-coupon securities and pay no interest. Rather, they are issued at a discount (at a reduced amount) and redeemed (given back money) at the face value at maturity. For example, a 91 day Treasury bill of Rs.100/- (face value) may be issued at say Rs. 98.20, that is, at a discount of say, Rs.1.80, and would be redeemed at the face value of Rs.100/-.

What is Commercial Paper (CP)?

It is a short-term money market instrument, is issued at a discount (at a reduced amount) and redeemed at the face value at maturity. It is issued in the form of a promissory note or in a dematerialized form. Big Corporate, primary dealers, and all Indian financial institutions are eligible to issue CP. The maturity period of each commercial paper is SEVEN days to ONE year from the date of issue.CP can be issued denominations of Rs. 5lakh or multiples thereof. Only a scheduled bank can act as an issuing and paying agent (IPA) for the issuance of CP.

What is Dematerialisation?

Dematerialization is a process by which the paper certificates of an investor are taken back by the company/registrar and actually destroyed and an equivalent number of securities are credited in electronic holdings of that investor.
Storage of Dematerialised Shares in Depository is the body that is responsible for storing and maintaining investor’s securities in Demat or electronic format. In India, there are two depositories i.e. NSDL and CDSL.

What is a Demat Account?

Demat is the short name of the dematerialized account. If one has to save money or make cheque payments, then he/she needs to open a bank account. Similarly, one needs to open a Demat account if he/she wants to buy or sell stocks. Thus, a Demat account is similar to a bank account wherein the actual money is being replaced by shares. In order to open a Demat account, one needs to approach the Depository Participants [DPs].
In India, a Demat account is a type of banking account that dematerializes paper-based physical stock shares. The Demat account is used to avoid holding physical shares, the shares are bought as well as sold through a stockbroker. In this case, the advantage is that one does not need any physical evidence for possessing these shares. All the things are taken care of by the DPs.

Who is a Depository Participant?

Depository Participant (DP) is the market intermediary through which investors can avail the depository services. Depository Participant provides financial services and includes organizations like banks, brokers, custodians, and financial institutions.

What are SENSEX and NIFTY?

SENSEX is the short term for the words “Sensitive Index” and is associated with the Bombay (Mumbai) Stock Exchange (BSE). The SENSEX was first formed on 1-1-1986 and used the market capitalization of the 30 most traded stocks of BSE. Where as NSE has the 50 most traded stocks of NSE.SENSEX IS THE INDEX OF BSE. AND NIFTY IS THE INDEX OF NSE. BOTH WILL SHOW DAILY TRADING MARKS. Sensex and Nifty both are an “index”. An index is basically an indicator it indicates whether most of the stocks have gone up or most of the stocks have gone down.

What is SEBI?

SEBI is the regulator for the Securities Market in India. Originally set up by the Government of India in 1988, it acquired statutory form in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament. Chaired by C B Bhave.

What is IPO?

IPO is Initial Public Offering. This is the first offering of shares to the general public from a company that wishes to list on the stock exchanges.

What is FII?

FII (Foreign Institutional Investor) used to denote an investor, mostly in the form of an institution. An institution established outside India, which proposes to invest in the Indian market, in other words buying Indian stocks. FII’s generally buy in large volumes which has an impact on the stock markets. Institutional Investors include pension funds, mutual funds, Insurance Companies, Banks, etc.

What is FDI?

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) occurs with the purchase of the “physical assets or a significant amount of ownership (stock) of a company in another country in order to gain a measure of management control” (Or) A foreign company having a stake in an Indian Company.

What is Disinvestment?

The Selling of the government stake in public sector undertakings.

What are Mutual funds?

Mutual funds are investment companies that pool money from investors at large and offer to sell and buy back their shares on a continuous basis and use the capital thus raised to invest in securities of different companies. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually. A company that invests its clients’ pooled funds into securities that match its declared financial objectives. Asset management companies provide investors with more diversification and investing options than they would have by themselves. Mutual funds, hedge funds, and pension plans are all run by asset management companies. These companies earn income by charging service fees to their clients.

What is NABARD?

NABARD was established by an act of Parliament on 12 July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC). It is one of the premier agencies to provide credit in rural areas. NABARD is set up as an apex Development Bank with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for the promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts, and other rural crafts.

What is Derivative?

A derivative is a financial contract with a value that is derived from an underlying asset such as a commodity, currency, or security. Derivatives have no direct value in and of themselves – their value is based on the expected future price movements of their underlying asset. Forward contract in a foreign exchange transaction, is a simple form of a derivative.
Common underlying instruments include bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates, market indexes, and stocks. Derivatives are used for speculating and hedging purposes