Mumbai: Overseas investors dumped shares worth ₹49,481 crore in the first half of April, with financial services continuing to face the worst of the foreign capital exodus for the third consecutive fortnight. To be sure, the pace of selling appears to have reduced toward the second-half of the month.

Almost 40% of the selling between April 1 and 15 was in this sector, as it witnessed outflows worth ₹19,152 crore. This comes after foreign investors offloaded shares worth over ₹60,000 crore in the sector in March, which was the highest since 2012.

“The financial services sector has the biggest weight on benchmark Nifty; so when there is broad-based selling, banking and financial services’ share in foreign selling tends to be higher,” said U R Bhat, co-founder & director, Alphaniti.

The intensity of foreign selling increased amid the US-Iran conflict since February 28, with the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector bearing the brunt of the outflows.

“Selling pressure has eased after the first-half of April, as a ceasefire and the possibility of a deal signalled that peak anxiety may be behind us,” said Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Securities.

In the first-half of April, consumer services witnessed foreign outflows worth ₹5,336 crore while healthcare and automobiles saw selling worth ₹4,481 crore and ₹3,704 crore in the same period. Overseas investors had reduced stake in both sectors in March.

Auto Stocks
Global investors sold shares worth ₹3,704 crore in the automobile sector after withdrawing shares worth ₹12,498 crore in March. Bhat said global investors will need some time to make up their mind on allocating to India and outflows could accelerate before any revival in foreign inflows.
“There have been news reports that Iran is not willing to meet and negotiate with the US on Wednesday – when the ceasefire ends,” said Bhat. “This could jeopardise earnings trajectory as oil prices may remain high as long as Strait of Hormuz remains shut – and keep foreign capital at bay.”

Overseas investors sold shares worth ₹67,081 crore across 21 sectors in the second-half of March- the highest fortnightly selling since second-half of October 2024 when they dumped shares worth ₹71,502 crore.

“Global investors remain cautious and are not in a hurry to deploy funds as they still view Indian market valuations as rich,” said Pandey. “The only solace has been strong domestic inflows, despite limited returns over the past 18 months.”

Foreign inflows this fortnight stood at ₹1,340 crore across power, utilities, diversified and the sector earmarked as ‘Others’, the lowest fortnightly inflows since first half of January 2025.

Most men approach a job offer with a single number in mind: the base salary. This focus on the gross annual figure is understandable because it’s the easiest way to compare one role to another.

However, this narrow view often means leaving thousands of pounds on the table. Recruiters usually have a strict cap on the salary they can offer for a specific grade, but they often have much more flexibility when it comes to the wider benefits package.

The psychology of negotiation suggests that we see cash as the ultimate reward, yet non-cash benefits can often improve your quality of life and net take-home pay more effectively than a modest bump in gross pay. If you only argue over the starting salary, you might miss out on perks that the company is actually eager to give away to secure the right talent. We’ll explore how you can broaden your horizon and find the hidden value in your next contract, so stay with us to find out how it all works.

Why Recruiters Have More Flexibility with Benefits

Hiring managers work within rigid departmental budgets that dictate exactly how much they can spend on a new starter’s salary. If the ceiling is £50,000, they usually can’t go to £55,000 without jumping through several corporate hoops. On the other hand, many company benefits come from a different pot of money or don’t cost the employer much at all to implement.

You will often find that a firm is happy to trade a slightly lower salary for a more robust package of extras. These can range from enhanced pension contributions to private medical insurance. Because these items are often tax-deductible for the business, they represent a win-win scenario where you get more value while the company keeps its official payroll costs within the allowed limits.

The Financial Impact of Transport and Vehicle Perks

One of the most significant expenses for any worker is getting to the office or meeting clients. If you are negotiating a new role, you should look closely at how the company supports your commute. Some firms offer season ticket loans or cycle-to-work schemes, but the real savings often come through modern car programmes. For example, many forward-thinking UK businesses now offer a salary sacrifice EV scheme that allows employees to pay for an electric car from their pre-tax income.

Choosing this kind of arrangement is often more beneficial for a business owner or a senior manager than simply asking for a higher car allowance. By using your gross salary to cover the cost of a brand-new electric vehicle, you reduce your overall tax bill and National Insurance contributions. It’s a prime example of a non-cash perk that puts more actual money back into your pocket every month compared to a taxable pay rise.

Beyond the Basics with Flexible Working and Health

While money is important, your time and health have a clear financial value too. Many men feel that asking for flexible working or extra holiday might make them look less committed, but the opposite is often true. High-performing workers know that avoiding burnout is the best way to stay productive over a long career. You can negotiate for things that protect your well-being, such as:

• An increased number of annual leave days above the statutory minimum.
• Comprehensive private dental and health cover for your whole family.
• Flexible start and finish times to help with childcare or personal projects.
• A dedicated budget for professional development and industry certifications.

Pension Contributions as a Long-Term Strategy

It’s easy to ignore a pension when you’re looking at your monthly bank balance, but it’s one of the most powerful tools in your negotiation kit. If a company won’t budge on the base salary, you can ask them to increase their employer contribution to your pension. This is essentially free money that grows over time without you having to pay immediate income tax on it.

Some employers will even agree to pension over-matching, where they contribute £2 for every £1 you put in. Over a five or ten-year period, this can result in a massive increase in your total net worth. It is always worth checking the small print of the pension policy before you sign your contract to see if there is room for an upgrade.

Winding Down

Negotiating a job offer is about more than just fighting for the highest possible starting salary. By looking at the whole package, you can often secure a deal that is better for your lifestyle and your long-term financial health. Remember that everything is on the table until you sign that contract, so don’t be afraid to ask for the perks that truly matter to you. Whether it’s a better car, a bigger pension, or more time at home, these extras are often where the real value lies.

Mumbai: The long-pending National Stock Exchange (NSE) initial public offer (IPO) could start moving again, with an expert panel agreeing to a proposal by the country’s largest bourse to make the biggest payment ever to settle cases that have been a key stumbling block.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) expert panel on settlement orders has approved NSE’s application to settle the colocation and dark fibre cases for about ₹1,800 crore, said people aware of the development. The IPO has faced repeated delays due to regulatory and legal hurdles.

“The high-powered advisory committee met recently and approved NSE’s settlement applications. Their recommendations will now be put up before the panel of two whole-time members of Sebi,” said one of the persons cited.

The four-member expert committee on settlement orders is chaired by Jai Narayan Patel, former chief justice of the Calcutta High Court. The other members are N Venkatram, country chair of Canadian pension fund CDPQ; SK Mohanty, former Sebi member; and Sarit Jafa, former deputy comptroller and auditor general.

An NSE spokesperson declined to comment. Sebi didn’t respond to queries.

Step Towards Closure
“It moves a long-pending, high-profile regulatory case toward closure, reducing uncertainty in the markets and reflects a pragmatic approach by Sebi to achieve faster enforcement and finality instead of prolonged litigation,” said a senior Supreme Court lawyer. “It also clears the decks for a smoother IPO, restoring regulatory certainty.”
The wait for the IPO has been one of India’s most prolonged and closely watched, with the first application submitted to Sebi on October 18, 2016.
The regulator initially withheld approval due to concerns related to a colocation case, governance lapses at the bourse, and issues with its technology infrastructure.

Since then, NSE has repeatedly approached Sebi for clearance. After Tuhin Kanta Pandey took charge as Sebi chief in March 2025, he formed an internal committee to examine the NSE IPO issue. Subsequently, in June last year, NSE filed two applications with Sebi to settle the long-pending colocation and dark fibre cases by offering to pay over Rs 1,300 crore – Rs 1,165 crore for the first and Rs 223 crore for the second. In January this year, Pandey said the regulator had agreed in principle to NSE’s settlement application.

This article was written by

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Running a business in London is expensive enough. Most owners watch their overheads carefully — yet they consistently undervalue the one professional who could reduce their tax bill, protect their cash flow, and keep them out of trouble with HMRC.

The problem is not that accountants are unhelpful. The problem is that most small business owners do not know what a good one should actually be doing. If your accountant only contacts you around year-end, you are not getting full value.

Here is what a strong small business accountant in London genuinely saves you and why it matters more than the invoice suggests.

1. Tax You Would Have Paid Unnecessarily

This is the most obvious saving, but it is consistently underestimated. The UK tax system is not simple. Between allowable expenses, capital allowances, pension contributions, salary-dividend splits for limited company directors, R&D credits, and the Employment Allowance, there is a significant amount of legitimate relief available that goes unclaimed every year.

HMRC’s own data suggests small businesses in the UK collectively fail to claim hundreds of millions in allowances annually. Most of that shortfall is not fraud or avoidance — it is missed opportunities caused by advisers who do not ask the right questions.

An accountant who understands your specific industry and business model will identify these reliefs proactively. They do not wait for you to ask.

2. Late-Filing Penalties

HMRC’s penalty regime is not forgiving. A single day’s late filing of your Corporation Tax return costs £100. Extend that to three months, and HMRC adds another £100 and may begin charging 10% of your outstanding tax as a further penalty. For Self Assessment, similar rules apply — and interest accrues on unpaid tax from the due date.

For businesses handling VAT, late submissions carry additional surcharges. Under the penalty points system introduced in 2023, repeated late filings escalate quickly.

A competent accountant keeps a compliance calendar, chases the documents they need well in advance, and files on time. This is basic, but it matters far more than most owners realise until they receive their first penalty notice.

3. The Time You Spend Doing Their Job

This one is less tangible but arguably more valuable. A business owner spending six to eight hours per month on bookkeeping, chasing receipts, and reconciling bank statements is not spending those hours generating revenue or building the business.

If your time as a director is worth £75 an hour — and for most London SME owners it is significantly higher — eight hours of accounting administration represents £600 of value per month that the business never recaptures.

Cloud accounting tools like Xero and QuickBooks, when set up correctly by a good accountant for small businesses in London, largely eliminate this manual workload. Bank feeds reconcile automatically. Expenses are categorised. VAT returns take minutes rather than an afternoon.

4. Bad Decisions Made Without Good Financial Data

Most small businesses make major decisions — hiring, pricing, investment, premises — based on a rough sense of where the money is rather than actual data. That sense is often wrong.

An accountant who produces clean monthly management accounts gives you the visibility to make better decisions faster. You can see exactly which revenue streams are growing, which clients are unprofitable, and whether your margins are holding up. Without that data, you are guessing.

The distinction here is between compliance accounting (producing annual accounts and filing returns) and advisory accounting (helping you understand and use your numbers). Many small business owners are only receiving the former. They should be receiving both.

5. Stress and Exposure You Do Not Know You Are Carrying

HMRC inquiry risk does not often come up in conversations about accountant value, but it should. A business with well-maintained records, properly categorised expenses, and a clean paper trail is significantly less likely to trigger a compliance check — and significantly easier to defend if one occurs anyway.

Beyond compliance, the psychological load of unclear financial records is real. Business owners who do not know their current tax position carry low-level financial anxiety that affects decision-making. Knowing exactly where you stand — what you owe, what is due, what is coming — is worth something in itself.

What to Look for in London Specifically

London’s business environment has specific considerations. Commercial rents, the Apprenticeship Levy, industry concentration by borough, and SDLT on commercial property all affect how your accounts should be structured. An accountant working primarily with London-based SMEs will understand these nuances in a way that a national generalist firm often will not.

If you are considering switching or hiring for the first time, look for fixed-fee pricing, cloud accounting proficiency, and demonstrable sector experience. A free initial consultation is standard — use it to test their knowledge of your specific situation, not just their service offering.

A good London accounting firm will demonstrate its value within the first few months through proactive advice, not just year-end paperwork. If yours is only reactive, it may be time to reassess.