Two important events from last week fit perfectly into Friction’s universe of corporate governance.
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India issued a discussion paper (surprisingly low on details) to review “ownership and governance” of stock exchanges and depositories.
On Saturday, Anil Agarwal-helmed Vedanta Ltd announced an open offer by its parent to acquire a 10% stake from public shareholders at a discount of 12% to the stock’s prevailing market price. Clearly, despite last year’s drama of a failed delisting and minority investors crying foul, nothing can deter the company from its chosen path of acquiring its shares cheaply.
Turning the clock back?
In a bare-bones, 10-page discussion paper, the markets regulator presented its policy intent—that it wants to undo the past decade’s slow and painstaking effort to shutter a plethora of regional stock exchanges and the clean-up of national exchanges
