Mumbai: More banks are expected to enter the pension fund management space as the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) looks to widen participation and deepen the investment universe for retirement savings.

PFRDA chairman Sivasubramanian Ramann said while two banks have shown interest, others are in the process. When regulations were first framed around 2012-13, asset management experience was largely limited to mutual funds and insurers, he said.

Banks, however, manage substantial treasury portfolios and possess adequate investment expertise, he added. “The application window remains open until March 31,” he said.

Two banks have already shown interest. Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank’s applications have come, Axis Bank‘s is a work-in-progress, and a consortium led by Union Bank and Daiichi is also exploring participation, he said.

PFRDA is examining ways to deepen the pension fund’s participation in long-term infrastructure and project finance, while remaining within prudent risk parameters.

Ramann said it is possible for long-term money to get into certain project financing stages, where an entity like a bank is assessing the risk and then inviting other people to join. “These are the kinds of discussions that we need to have to be able to understand how to improve the asset classes, the distribution of money between them, and introducing new asset classes,” he said.
On investments, pension funds will be permitted to invest in gold and silver through ETFs. These will fall under the alternatives category, which is capped at 5% of the equity allocation. Within this bucket, exposure to gold and silver is likely to be initially restricted to around 1%, subject to periodic review.The pension regulator is working on creating simpler payout products that give subscribers greater flexibility at retirement, including options beyond traditional annuities.

A committee has already begun work on designing one or two standardised products that would allow subscribers to choose between annuity payouts or structured withdrawals. The regulator is also exploring products with varied payout tenures, which would not necessarily be 25 years but potentially 10, 15 or 18 years.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday stated that banks would be allowed to provide acquisition financing only in cases where the acquiring company already holds control in the target and seeks finance to raise its stake to cross material thresholds from 26% onward to 90%.

The regulator said banks are allowed to refinance a target company’s existing debt where such refinancing is “integral to the acquisition finance.”

Borrowers must meet stringent financial criteria, including a minimum net worth of ₹500 crore, three consecutive years of net profit, and-where the acquirer is unlisted-an investment-grade credit rating prior to disbursement.

The regulator also eased the portfolio limit for such lending, raising the bank level cap on acquisition finance to 20% of eligible capital, compared with a proposed 10% of Tier 1 capital in the draft rules.

The limit will apply within the overall capital market exposure ceiling, it said.

The final guidelines are relaxed post consultation with banks and will be effective from April 1, 2026.
The RBI aligned rules for infrastructure trusts, saying that InvIT related acquisition funding must comply with the new acquisition finance framework, linking it to the conditions around control, leverage and security requirements.On retail borrowers, the RBI increased the amount individuals can borrow against shares by raising the cap to ₹1 crore per person from ₹20 lakh earlier. Within this higher ceiling, banks can lend up to ₹25 lakh to individuals specifically for purchasing securities in the secondary market.

Banks can now extend up to ₹25 lakh per individual for subscriptions to initial public offers (IPO), follow-on public offers (FPO) and employee stock option plans (ESOPs), subject to borrowers contributing a minimum 25% cash margin, meaning loans cannot exceed 75% of the subscription value.

For other market instruments, the RBI set specific ceilings: loans against listed debt securities rated BBB or above, mutual fund units, exchange traded funds, and units of REITs or InvITs will follow LTV caps applicable under the new framework, ranging from 60% for listed shares to 85% for high rated debt instruments and 75% for equity oriented funds, ETFs and trust units.

ET Intelligence Group: Will Indian software companies rise to the challenge presented by new models of artificial intelligence (AI) that are transforming how enterprise solutions are implemented and delivered to clients? While the jury is still out, one thing is clear: domestic software exporters are far from unprepared.

Both large and mid-tier IT firms have been exploring ways-through internal initiatives as well as acquisitions and collaborations-to adapt to evolving technology that can strengthen their offerings. The rapid progress in AI is expected to enhance efficiency across the vendor-client ecosystem by shortening project timelines and enabling faster delivery of products and services to target markets. Viewed in this context, the current sell-off in IT stocks appears more a knee-jerk reaction rather than a sign of any fundamental shift to defensive sectors.

Last week, two major AI labs, OpenAI and Anthropic, released their latest models touting advanced capabilities to build software programming codes with greater accuracy than previous models. This sent ripples across tech and investor communities, forcing them to question the relevance of traditional software development companies that have so far thrived by employing legions of programmers. The tremors were felt on Dalal Street as the BSE IT index lost 15% in eight trading sessions to February 13, the biggest loss among sectoral indices on the exchange.

While uncertainties over the exact impact of AI capabilities will likely loom on IT stocks in the short term, the medium-to-long-term scenario appears less gloomy given the agility shown by IT exporters in aligning their offerings with the latest technology trends. Apart from training staff on AI platforms and forging ties with global tech partners, Indian IT exporters have been quick to share productivity gains with clients, which should retain their relevance.

The traction in new deal wins reported by IT companies over the past few quarters ensures that they continue to offer valuable services to clients. The aggregate total contract value (TCV) of order bookings by the top five Indian IT exporters, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, remained above $20 billion in each of the five quarters to December 2025. It rose to $21.5 billion in the December 2025 quarter from $17.4 billion two years ago.

On the valuation front, too, comfort is setting in as the current selling spree is driving the trailing price-earnings multiples farther away from historical averages.

Mumbai: Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday proposed to review the base price and price bands for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Currently, stock exchanges apply a fixed price band of 20% on the base price of ETFs, except a price band of 5% for overnight ETFs investing only in TREPs (Tri-Party Repo Dealing System).

The base price for applicability of price bands for ETFs is taken as T-2 day closing net asset values (NAVs) by exchanges instead of T-1 day closing price, as in the case of index and individual scrips.

“The existing fixed price band of +20% to all ETFs (except overnight ETFs), regardless of their underlying/benchmark, does not appropriately reflect the permissible movement and volatility of the underlying, and, therefore, may lead to situations where the ETF’s trading range is excessively wide relative to the underlying,” Sebi said in a discussion paper.

The closing NAV of ETFs typically differs between T-1 and T-2 closing. Accordingly, the existing practice of using the T-2 Day closing NAV for determining the base price for ETFs results in an inherent lag of one trading day in the base value used for applying price bands, Sebi said.

Also, corporate actions such as bonuses and dividends effective on T-1 day are being adjusted manually on the T-2 day closing NAV for the determination of the base price. This manual process increases the risk of errors and omissions of certain corporate actions, it said. Further, the existing fixed price band of 20% for ETFs except overnight ETFs may not be commensurate with the maximum permissible price range of the underlying, which is dependent on the T-1 day closing price, Sebi added.
The regulator proposed that the base price on T-day may be either the closing price of ETFs on T-1 day, based on the weighted average traded price of the last 30 minutes or an average iNAV of last 30 minutes on T-1 day or the closing NAV of T-1 day.