companies

Coronavirus-earnings season: What to expect as companies begin to report Tuesday

Companies in every sector face challenges giving forward-looking guidance in a pandemic that remains unpredictable.




companies

Op-ed: Investors will reward companies that take care of others in the coronavirus pandemic

Acts of charity, compassion, and creative generosity may resonate with investors increasingly drawn to socially responsible investing.




companies

Media companies expect a tough quarter for TV advertising, with no live sports and spending delayed

In recent days, companies including ABC and ESPN parent Disney, Fox Corp., AMC Networks, NBCUniversal parent Comcast, ViacomCBS and Discovery reported earnings that showed how TV is trending as advertisers are pulling spend or postponing campaigns until later in the year.




companies

Recovery could be slow, uneven and dependent on whether companies still need as many workers

There's optimism that nearly 4 in 5 workers surveyed see their layoffs as temporary, but the issue is whether their jobs will survive.




companies

Going to see companies hit cash crunch in third quarter: LaSalle Network CEO

More than 20 million jobs were lost in the month of April. Tom Gimbel, LaSalle Network CEO, and CNBC's Steve Liesman join 'Power Lunch' to discuss the state of U.S. jobs and when a recovery could happen.




companies

Large-cap tech and bio-tech companies helping to boost market despite pandemic, says Ed Yardeni

Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, and David Kelly, J.P. Morgan Asset Management's chief global strategist, join "Squawk on the Street" to discuss the historic April job loss and what it means for markets.




companies

Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund-Growth

Category Equity Scheme - Small Cap Fund
NAV 35.4965
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




companies

Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund-Dividend

Category Equity Scheme - Small Cap Fund
NAV 14.9567
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




companies

Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund - Direct - Growth

Category Equity Scheme - Small Cap Fund
NAV 38.4613
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




companies

Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund - Direct - Dividend

Category Equity Scheme - Small Cap Fund
NAV 16.6969
Repurchase Price
Sale Price
Date 08-May-2020




companies

Detailed analysis of Charges under the Companies Act 2013

Charge especially gives security and empowers the charge holder that in case the Company makes a default for the repayment of the loan than the charge holder can get the claim amount from the security which was charged by the Company in favor of the charge holder.




companies

How Housing Finance Companies Sanction home loan to Salaried person?

How Housing Finance Companies Sanction home loan to Salaried person?




companies

SaaS Financial Impact Research Report: The Impact of a Pandemic on B2B SaaS Companies

Between April 10 - April 30, 2020, RevOps Squared partnered with SandHill Group to conduct research that will help us understand how financial planning and 2020 forecasts within the SaaS industry have been impacted by COVID-19. This is the summary report of our findings.

Keep on reading: SaaS Financial Impact Research Report: The Impact of a Pandemic on B2B SaaS Companies




companies

GSTR-3B Nil return to be filed vide SMS Facility and filing for Companies through EVC

GSTR-3B Nil return to be filed vide SMS Facility and filing for Companies through EVC...





companies

How Predatory Companies Are Trying to Hijack Your Publisher Search, Part 3


Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

In my first post about the ways that predatory companies attempt to ensnare unwary writers who are searching for publishers, I discussed fake publisher-matching websites. In my second, I exposed the scammy Google ad tactics of vanity publisher Austin Macauley.

In this third post, I'll talk about an equally insidious practice: providing misinformation or even outright lies about traditional publishing, in order to make self- or vanity publishing appear superior.

Yesterday on Twitter, someone tweeted this chart, which purportedly compares traditional publishing and self-publishing.


If you're even slightly savvy about publishing, the inaccuracies are easy to spot. Trad pubs often pay royalties on retail price (not "net sales"), or pay a higher percentage (higher royalties are especially common in the small press world). Trad pubs that pay advances don't withhold them from less popular authors, and they don't require authors to make "certain minimum orders" or to buy thousands of copies of their own books. And while it's often true that smaller traditional publishers don't provide much in the way of PR or marketing support, and larger houses invest more marketing in more popular books and authors, they don't simply ignore 95% of their output (this makes no sense; what business markets only 5% of its products?)

As for author rights...trad pubs do license exclusive rights from authors, sometimes for a period of years, sometimes for the life of copyright (with reversion usually happening well before then). But they don't gain ownership of them (as "all rights are with the publisher" implies), because the author retains copyright--plus, authors can often negotiate to keep some of their subsidiary rights. And although self-publishing is typically non-exclusive, allowing authors to publish on multiple platforms if they wish, they do still have to license publishing and distribution rights to whichever platform or service provider they choose--otherwise, the platform couldn't legally produce and sell their books.

The chart comes from this how-to-self-publish article, which is really just a long ad for PublishEdge, which is (surprise!) a paid publishing services provider.


PublishEdge is a "division" of Zaang Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which, unlike the Philippines-based scams I've been covering so much lately, is based in India. The range of services it sells aren't priced as high as some of the scammers', but there are still plenty of warning signs: no information about who is providing the services on offer (so you have no idea who they are or if they're qualified); no cover or website design samples (so you have no idea what you'd be getting for your money); and this pitch for ghostwriting services, which invites you to "Discover the simple secret to how celebrities and busy professionals get their books published without actually writing", courtesy of "our book writing experts", who (judging from the description of the service) basically type up a Skype interview into a chapter book. Most likely these unnamed "experts" are hired on Upwork or Fiverr or a similar jobs site (holy plagiarism scandal, Batman!).

PublishEdge isn't alone in misrepresenting traditional publishing in order to make itself look more attractive. Among other alternative facts, this chart from Morgan James, a vanity publisher with an author purchase requirement, claims that "many major houses" require authors to buy 5,000 copies or more of their own books (doesn't that make MJ's 2,500 purchase requirement seem appealing?), and that trad pubs provide no PR or marketing support for 94% of their books and authors. (Hmmm. Could PublishEdge have borrowed a little something there?)

Here's another misleading comparison, from Union Square Publishing, a self-styled hybrid (read: vanity) publisher. It too borrows heavily from Morgan James's chart, with several of the same dubious claims. Here's another one--this time from Success Publishing, which sells Chicken Soup-style anthology slots.

This one, from "custom" publisher Momosa Publishing (packages start at $5,900), doesn't tell quite so many fibs, but encourages you to believe that trad pubs cap their royalties at 6%, and don't market their books to libraries. And then there's this from Atmosphere Press, another so-called hybrid, which wants to convince writers that a $5,000 publishing fee will save them from the "raw end of the deal" they'd get from a trad pub, "losing not just their royalties but also the rights to their material and to their control over their art." Not addressed: the likelihood of ever making that $5,000 back.

These are just a few examples; there are many more. If you use the internet as part of your publisher search, you're very likely to encounter them (in some cases, disseminated by self-styled experts who ought to know better). It's a great argument for a step that many writers skip: learning about publishing before diving into the quest for publication. As with all aspects of publishing, knowledge is your greatest ally and your best defense: the more you know about the way things really work, the better protected you will be against the disinformation described above.

Final note: I know that many writers have had bad experiences with traditional publishers--I've had some myself. Especially in the small press world, many traditional (at least in the sense that they don't charge fees) publishers engage in nonstandard and author-unfriendly business practices. There's plenty of discussion of that on this blog. I'm not trying to paint trad pub as perfect, or argue that it's necessarily a better choice for any given writer.

But deliberate distortions like those described above don't help anyone, even if you don't take into account their obvious self-serving agenda. Tarring an entire segment of the publishing market with a broad negative brush--especially where some of the supposed negatives are demonstrably false--is as irresponsible as arguing (as some people still do) that only traditional publishing is a worthwhile path. 




companies

COVID-19: Six Indian companies working on vaccine

Six Indian companies are working on a vaccine for COVID-19, joining global efforts to find a quick preventive for the deadly infection spreading rapidly across the world, says a top Indian scientist. Nearly 70 'vaccine candidates' are being tested and at least three have moved to the human clinical trial stage, but a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is unlikely to be ready for mass use before 2021. As COVID-19 infects more than 1.9 million in the world and claims 1,26,000 lives, Indian scientists are also part of the global fight against the disease.

"While Zydus Cadila is working on two vaccines, Serum Institute, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, and Mynvax are developing one vaccine each," Gagandeep Kang, executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, told PTI. Kang is also vice chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which noted in a recent study that the "global vaccine R&D effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of scale and speed".

But it is a complicated process with many stages of testing and many challenges, explained experts. A vaccine for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, may not take 10 years that other vaccines do but it could be at least a year before it is proven safe, effective, and made widely available, they said. "Vaccine development is a lengthy process which often takes years, with many challenges," said E. Sreekumar, chief scientific officer at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Kerala.

"Generally, vaccines take several months to pass the different stages of testing, and then approvals also take time. For COVID-19, we don't expect a vaccine to come in this year," agreed Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad. Vaccine testing typically begins with animal and lab testing before going on to different stages of human testing.

"The human testing phase is composed of many phases," Sreekumar told PTI. "Phase one trials are small-scale, usually involving few participants, to assess whether the vaccine is safe for humans. Phase two trials often involve several hundred subjects, and mainly evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine against the disease," he said.
The final phase involves thousands of people to further assess the efficacy of the vaccine over a defined period of time, and can last several months, Sreekumar said.
"That is why we don't see a vaccine coming in at least a year from now."

Even after the vaccine is ready, he explained, there are a lot of challenges, including whether the vaccine is effective in all populations, and if it can be used for different strains of the novel coronavirus, which might start mutating as time passes. "There are lots of vaccines which are being tested for COVID-19, some of which are in the stage 1 clinical trial," Mishra added.

"But we still don't know how fast they will proceed towards a vaccine and they can take several months to reach any point," he said. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), three vaccine candidates are in the clinical testing phase, meaning they are able to be tested on humans, while nearly 70 are in the preclinical phase -- either in lab testing, or animal studies. Though Kang named six companies, the WHO has listed only Zydus Cadila and Serum Institute from India as among the global firms working on a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of April 8, 2020, said CEPI, the global COVID-19 vaccine R&D landscape includes 115 vaccine candidates, of which 78 are confirmed as active and 37 are unconfirmed.
Of the 78 confirmed active projects, 73 are currently at exploratory or preclinical stages, noted the CEPI team in an analysis published in the journal Nature reviews drug Discovery last week.

The most advanced candidates have recently moved into clinical development, including mRNA-1273 from US-based biotechnology company Moderna, Ad5-nCoV from Chinese biopharma company CanSino Biologicals, and INO-4800 from American pharmaceuticals company Inovio. Others in this list include LV-SMENP-DC and pathogen-specific aAPC from Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute in China.

Numerous other vaccine developers have indicated plans to initiate human testing in 2020, the CEPI scientists said. Experts believe the genome sequencing of the new coronavirus provided by scientists in China shows it shares 79 per cent of the same genetic material as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and 50 per cent of the same material as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a species of coronavirus which infects humans, bats, and camels.

This allows developers to use groundwork already created in research for vaccines for those viruses. Australia's national science agency CSIRO announced earlier this month that it has begun preclinical tests of a vaccine developed by Oxford University in the UK. A striking feature of the vaccine development landscape for COVID-19 is the range of technology platforms being evaluated, including nucleic acid (DNA and RNA), virus-like particle, live weakened virus, and inactivated virus approaches.

The CEPI noted that many of these platforms are not currently the basis for licensed vaccines, but experience in fields such as oncology is encouraging developers to exploit the opportunities that next-generation approaches offer for increased speed of development and manufacture.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




companies

COVID-19: Experts warn companies to guard against fake news to tackle crisis better

As the deadly coronavirus infection spreads fast in India and elsewhere, even faster is the spread of fake news regarding the pandemic and experts warn this 'infodemic' can have huge economic costs for companies across the world in addition to health concerns for the public at large. While authorities have announced severe penal actions for those spreading fake news regarding this pandemic, which has already caused nearly 2 lakh deaths globally with more than 28 lakh infections since its outbreak in China last December, widespread misinformation surrounding the disease has seen people drinking disinfectants and industrial alcohol while trying various rumoured treatments.

False claims and fake news, mostly forwarded through social media platforms, have also led to several cases of religion-based attacks, hate speeches and other discriminatory activities, while cyber frauds are also on the rise with scamsters seeking to take advantage of the crisis situation. In addition to the damages caused to public health and societal behaviour, experts warn the undeterred wave of fake news poses a huge risk to corporates, for whom it becomes difficult at times to filter out the right information that is crucial for them to ensure success of their business continuity, especially when almost the entire world is locked down.

Farah Lalani, who is a community creator for media, entertainment and information industries at the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), said businesses need to be proactive about calling out misinformation that is spreading about their brand, directing customers to official channels and making sure there is always clear and up to date information on all their social accounts. "While bad actors, fraudsters, and uninformed users can spread fabricated or misleading information, if businesses collaborate closely with the entire media ecosystem and regulatory bodies, they can start to work together to solve this very challenging problem," she told PTI.

In India, some organisations including industry bodies and advocacy groups have begun compiling official and credible information about the COVID-19 fight and the ongoing lockdown to help companies in their preparedness for tackling the crisis. Leading advocacy group Chase India, which was among the first to start this practice right from the initial days of the COVID-19 crisis emerging as a major threat in the country, has been sending across multiple daily updates to its clients, including on the latest actions taken by the central and state governments and also on initiatives being taken by various corporates.

Experts said the correct information is necessary for companies to help them understand, analyse and then implement various new guidelines being issued by the central and state governments. "In today's circumstances, besides the current public health crisis of COVID-19 and socio-economic impact related to climate change, one of the biggest concerns is legitimate and timely sourcing of information," Chase India's co-founder and Executive Vice President Manash K Neog said.

"As a public policy consultancy, our key challenge during the pre-lockdown phase was to mitigate frenzy around rumours of lockdown for our clients as it was creating panic for the operational teams of clients. "Further to that, we have institutionalised mechanisms such as our hourly and daily COVID-19 advisory trackers for the central and state governments to support clients with timely and authentic information basis which they are able to better plan their business continuity strategies," he added.

According to experts, companies are working hard to ensure timely access to right information as costs could be too high for them if they fall for some misinformation and in such a situation the role of media is also very important. Releasing a new survey recently, which found that just about one-fourth of the consumers in India currently pay for news but nearly two-thirds are willing to pay, the WEF said the current coronavirus challenge further emphasises the indispensable role that the media plays in society today.

With social media becoming the main platform for spread of false claims, giants like Facebook and Twitter have also begun deleting such posts and taking other actions. Some of the posts deleted on such grounds include those of public figures as well, the most famous being posts shared by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in which he had claimed anti-malaria prescription drug hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment for COVID-19.

Twitter had also deleted a post by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in which he had apparently endorsed a "brew" for eliminating infectious genes. Various social media platforms have also imposed several restrictions on advertisements claiming various cures for COVID-19, while hate content regarding the pandemic is also being dealt with sternly. However, all these steps have not been able to totally eradicate the fake news flow, which the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as 'infodemic' in the context of the novel coronavirus.

"We are not just fighting an epidemic, we are fighting an infodemic," he said, referring to fake news as something that "spreads faster and more easily than this virus". United Nations' chief Antonio Guterres too said last month that an "infodemic of misinformation" was also an enemy that we all need to fight while battling COVID-19.

"To overcome the coronavirus, we need to urgently promote 'facts and science' and 'hope and solidarity' over despair and division," he said.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




companies

Will Mutual Fund Houses Act Against Companies Approaching Courts To Prevent Rating Downgrade Amidst COVID-19?

Posted by Equitymaster
      

Unnerving movements for debt mutual funds investors!

Just last week my colleague, Divya explained the fiasco at Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, which took a decision to abruptly wind down six debt mutual fund schemes, namely:

In all, the above debt mutual fund schemes had an AUM of Rs 30,854 crore as of March 31, 2020.

The fund house cited, "severe market dislocation and illiquidity in the fixed income space" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the reason behind the decision.

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Investors in these schemes are now left in the lurch: they cannot sell (nor buy) these funds and will have to rely on the fund house to get back their hard-earned money. Investors will have to hold their investments in these schemes until liquidity is available to the mutual fund house by either selling securities in the fund's portfolio or receiving maturity proceeds.

Currently, a fact is, not just Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, but debt mutual fund schemes of many other fund houses are have a remarkable exposure to stressed assets.

According to portfolios disclosed on March 31, 2020, mutual funds collectively held Rs 1.38 trillion of exposure to debt securities issued by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). Approximately Rs 51,000 crore of the exposure in debt securities has a maturity profile of less than 3 months; and now, mutual funds fear that there will be defaults.

NBFCs and other corporate borrowers claim that they do not have enough liquidity to fulfil their obligations and have requested for additional time. Given that, rating downgrades from rating agencies look likely.

However, some companies are playing smart: they are approaching the Courts to prevent a rating downgrade, plus seeking a stay on sale of pledged shares. Of course, they are well within their right to approach the judicial authority or Courts and contest.

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But the capital market regulator, seems to be in no mood in offering them any leeway. On the contrary, the regulator is asking the mutual fund industry to act against the issuer of securities who are possibly carrying high credit risk; facing asset quality problems.

Delays in repayments would mean the creation of more side-pockets by mutual funds. And in my view, more the losses investors suffer, more frustrating it will be for mutual fund houses and their investors. Eventually retail and High Net-worth Individuals, particularly, will lose confidence and may not be keen to invest in debt funds.

If you are wondering what has gone wrong, here's everything you may like to know about liquidity, credit risk and the exposure of mutual funds to corporate debt in the present scenario.

If you remember, the capital market regulator had mandated large corporations to source at least 25% of their borrowings from the bond markets from the beginning of FY 2019. This move was expected to deepen Indian bond markets and reduces the stress on banks. Just a year later, the same move is proving fatal for companies that went to the bond markets to raise money.

Now that the COVID-19 lockdown has forced many business units to shut off temporarily or operate much below their optimal operational capacity with a skeletal staff, companies, including the large organisations that relied heavily on debt markets, are finding it difficult to honour maturity claims on Commercial Papers (CPs), Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), and Bonds.

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------------------------------

They were hoping for an 'at-par treatment' with Banks when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered a moratorium period to borrowers. But the RBI circular came to them as a shocker. The devil was in the details.

On March 27, 2020, the RBI issued a notification allowing a three-month moratorium on all outstanding term loans and working capital facilities on account of disruptions caused by the outbreak of coronavirus. This circular did not cover around 10 thousand NBFCs, who mainly depend on CPs, NCDs, and Bonds for their funding requirements.

As far as NBFCs are concerned, the RBI has already provided them with a liquidity facility through the banking channel. The RBI directed banks to utilise funds infused under Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) facility to invest in 'investment-grade' CPs, NCDs, and Bonds issued by NBFCs. Also, RBI mandated banks to allocate 50% of Rs 50,000 crore of liquidity introduced by way of TLTRO 2.0 to small and mid-size NBFCs and small finance banks.

But NBFCs seemed not too happy with just liquidity and many of them are now approaching courts to prevent rating downgrades. This is not a best practice for the industry, although fund houses may be well within their rights to contest.

Recently, Indiabulls Housing Finance was successful in receiving the interim order from Delhi High Court, throttling any coercive action against the housing finance company for its inability to repay its bondholders. The Delhi High Court will hear the case further on May 19, 2020.

This has added to the worries of mutual fund houses that now fear other NBFCs will follow the same path.

The capital market regulator, only recently (a few days ago) following the three moratorium by RBI (due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic) has relaxed the valuation norms for debt and money market instrument held by mutual funds vide a circular dated April 23, 2020, wherein it states as under:

  • Based on assessment, if the valuation agencies appointed by AMFI are of the view that the delay in payment of interest/principal or extension of the maturity of a security by the issuer has arisen solely due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and/or in light of the moratorium permitted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) (vide notification no. RBI/2019-20/186, dated March 27, 2020) creating temporary operational challenges in servicing debt, then valuation agencies may not consider the same as a default for the purpose of valuation of money market or debt securities held by Mutual Funds.

    However, in the scenario, as stated above, if there is any difference in the valuation of securities provided by two valuation agencies, the conservative valuation shall be accepted.

But then what is the point of coming up with these valuation norms as an afterthought, and not in close synchronisation when the RBI came with its notification a month ago?

The damage now is already done and companies are anyways approaching the Courts to prevent a rating downgrade.

Let's say shares of a company are pledged and to recover the proceeds -- if they cannot be sold due to a court order -- then such lending would be as good as unsecured lending.

Also, why should that not be construed as an instance of deviation from the stated fundamental attributes of a debt mutual fund scheme? After all, mutual fund investors invest in debt fund schemes taking into account a certain level of risk. Change in the risk profile of a scheme is a change in the fundamental attribute/s.

According to India Ratings, NBFCs having the asset base of Rs 500 crore to 5,000 crore, largely fall between "A" and "BBB" rating categories.

The mid-path could be a decision on payment or deferring the payment in consultation with all stakeholders, including debenture trustees. The industry will require a blanket resolution because a case-to-case resolution approach is cumbersome and may create more chaos.

Unless the RBI takes a clear stance on NBFCs and other financial institutions, mutual fund houses are likely to feel the heat of redemptions. Suppose, there's no further statement issued by the banking sector regulator; mutual funds will have to be prepared to handle large-scale defaults, which might look inevitable. After all, a majority of NBFCs' customers are retail borrowers and they enjoy a moratorium on the EMI payment for 3-months. This has been the trickiest part for NBFCs.

While COVID-19 outbreak has been the genuine reason for the potential defaults this time, asset-liability mismatches of NBFCs are well-known. Many NBFCs have gone overboard with cheap credit available during stable market conditions. Their credit underwriting has been questioned widely. The industry has also witnessed belly-up instances such as IL&FS and DHFL. Many mutual fund houses have burned their fingers badly in such defaults.

At the time of writing this piece, to ease the liquidity pressure on mutual funds, the RBI today decided to provide a special liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore for mutual funds. Under this facility, the RBI will conduct repo operations of 90 days tenor at the fixed repo rate. This will be on-tap and open-ended, and banks can submit their bids to avail funding on any day from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays). The scheme is available from today i.e., April 27, 2020, till May 11, 2020, or up to utilization of the allocated amount, whichever is earlier. The Reserve Bank will review the timeline and amount, depending upon market conditions.

The RBI has stated further that the liquidity support availed under the Special Liquidity Facility for Mutual Funds shall be used by banks exclusively for meeting the liquidity requirements of mutual funds by, 1) extending loans; and (2) undertaking outright purchase of and/or repos against the collateral of investment-grade corporate bonds, CPs, debentures and certificates of Deposit (CDs) held by mutual funds.

Having taken this measure, keep in mind that it does not make investing in debt mutual funds risk-free. Considering the prevailing investment environment, you should stay away from mutual fund schemes whose portfolio characteristic appears compromised. Also, avoid credit risk funds and corporate bond funds as they are likely to be more vulnerable amidst the financial crisis followed by COVID-19 pandemic.

As a thumb rule: Choose mutual fund schemes from fund houses that follow prudent judicious investment processes and stringent risk-management systems.

In these uncertain times, it would be wise sticking to liquid funds and overnight funds while considering debt funds.

Our friends at Quantum Mutual Fund have highlighted the secret behind their debt management strategy which has helped them provide safety and liquidity to investors when it comes to investing in quantum funds. Don't Worry, Quantum Liquid Fund always aims for Safety and Liquidity.

As with all financial matters, better be safe than sorry!

PS: If you wish to select worthy mutual fund schemes, I recommend you to subscribe to PersonalFN's unbiased premium research service, FundSelect.

Additionally, as a bonus, you get access to PersonalFN's popular debt mutual fund service, DebtSelect.

Each fund recommended under FundSelect goes through our stringent process, where they are tested on both quantitative as well as qualitative parameters.

Every month, PersonalFN's FundSelect service will provide you with insightful and practical guidance on equity mutual funds and debt schemes - the ones to Buy, Hold, or Sell.

If you are serious about investing in a rewarding mutual fund scheme, Subscribe now!

Join Now: PersonalFN is now on Telegram. Join FREE Today to get 'Daily Wealth Letter' and Exclusive Updates on Mutual Funds

Author: Rounaq Neroy

This article first appeared on PersonalFN here.



PersonalFN is a Mumbai based personal finance firm offering Financial Planning and Mutual Fund Research services.

Disclaimer:
The views mentioned above are of the author only. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Equitymaster do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader. Please read the detailed Terms of Use of the web site.




companies

Tax-News.com: Russia Clarifies Tax Treaty Access Rules For Non-Res Holding Companies

In a letter dated August 8, 2019, the Russian Federal Tax Service amended the rules for non-resident holding companies to be considered as the beneficial owner of Russia-sourced income.




companies

Coronavirus impact: What Indian companies need to do to survive in a post COVID-19 world

Companies' success in the next 18 months won't be determined by their growth or profitability, but merely by their ability to survive and not run out of cash




companies

Tax-News.com: Italy Lists Companies Covered By VAT Split Payment Regime

The Italian Department of Finance has released new lists of government and private sector entities covered by Italy's split-payment mechanism.




companies

Tax-News.com: Trinidad And Tobago's Budget Focused At Companies

Caribbean territory Trinidad and Tobago announced changes to corporate tax breaks in its 2020 Budget, in which it committed to clear the almost TTD4.5bn (USD664m) in unpaid VAT refunds.




companies

Tax-News.com: US Companies Urge Senate To Approve Tax Treaties

In a letter published on April 29, 2019, the United States National Foreign Trade Council urged the Senate to approve several pending double tax avoidance treaties.




companies

Tax-News.com: Australia May Make Directors Liable For Unpaid GST In Folded Companies

Legislation before Australia's parliament would make company directors liable for a failed company's GST liabilities in certain circumstances.




companies

Tax-News.com: Ireland Issues Guide On Dual-Resident Companies

The Irish Revenue has published guidance on dual-resident companies that explains new rules introduced under the BEPS multilateral convention on tax treaties.




companies

Forbes: Why Connected Worker Technologies Are Now A Business Priority For Industrial Companies

The decline in natural resources is very real. The International Water Management Institute estimates that nearly every country south of the 35th parallel will experience economic or physical water scarcity by 2025.




companies

Forbes: Why Connected Worker Technologies Are Now A Business Priority For Industrial Companies

The decline in natural resources is very real. The International Water Management Institute estimates that nearly every country south of the 35th parallel will experience economic or physical water scarcity by 2025.




companies

Pharma Companies Have to Support or Risk Damaging Global Reputation

Various unparalleled events happening since last few months have upended societies and healthcare systems alike. Monetary and drug donations have become




companies

Govt Makes Public CSR Spending Of 7,334 Companies

Government today made public CSR spending of more than 7,300 companies in 2014-15, totalling Rs 8,803 crore, but the amount spent by over 60 per cent of the entities was shown as zero.




companies

Removal of Exclusively listed companies of De-recognized/Non-operational/Exited Stock Exchanges placed in the Dissemination Board (DB).




companies

Slovak Republic must urgently introduce effective legislation holding companies liable for foreign bribery, says OECD

20/06/2012 - The Slovak Republic must urgently meet its obligations under the Convention it signed 12 years ago and introduce an effective corporate liability regime so that Slovak companies are held accountable for the bribery of foreign public officials in cross-border business deals, says a new OECD report.




companies

OECD and National Human Rights Institutions join forces to promote respect of human rights by multinational companies

07/11/12 - the OECD and the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions concluded a Memorandum of Understanding to promote respect by multinational enterprises of the new human rights chapter of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights upon which the OECD Guidelines are based.




companies

Colombia needs to address major loopholes to hold companies liable for foreign bribery

Colombia needs to improve its capacity to investigate foreign bribery by establishing an effective corporate liability regime, improving coordination between its numerous agencies and more rigorously training law enforcement, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.




companies

Holding companies, not just individuals, responsible for corporate crime

Brandon L. Garrett is the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law and author of Convicting the Innocent (2011) and Too Big to Jail (2014). These comments on corporate criminal liability are a contribution to a public consultation conducted by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.




companies

OECD and AfDB launch powerful tool to help African companies prevent bribery

New guidance from the AfDB and the OECD will help African companies of all sizes set up measures to prevent bribery and improve the quality of corporate compliance and anti-bribery policies.




companies

Can pension funds and life insurance companies keep their promises?

This chapter from the 2015 OECD Business and Finance Outlook examines the potential impact of an environment of protracted low interest rates on pension systems and life insurance companies. It describes the mechanisms through which prolonged low interest rates can affect the solvency position of these institutions and uses available data to assess potential impacts.




companies

Cyprus Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Cyprus stands at 8.30 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Cyprus averaged 10.03 percent from 2006 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 11.50 percent in 2014 and a record low of 7.80 percent in 2017. In Cyprus, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Cyprus because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Cyprus Social Security Rate For Companies - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Tunisia's inclusion in global value chains and the role of offshore companies

Tunisia’s trade, Tunisia's openness and its integration into global value chains has improved significantly since the mid-1990s, reflecting the country's comparative advantages.




companies

OECD and National Human Rights Institutions join forces to promote respect of human rights by multinational companies

07/11/12 - the OECD and the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions concluded a Memorandum of Understanding to promote respect by multinational enterprises of the new human rights chapter of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights upon which the OECD Guidelines are based.




companies

How is corporate governance in Japan changing? Developments in listed companies and roles of institutional investors

OECD Corporate Governance Working Paper No.17. This report examines the influence of institutional shareholders and their activities towards good corporate governance, the historical changes to practices within shareholder meetings and the role that institutional shareholders have played in the improvement of corporate governance within Japanese listed companies.




companies

The impact of investment treaties on companies, shareholders and creditors

Investment treaties are intended to offer foreign investors protection for their investments from host government conduct in violation of the treaty. This report examines how many investment treaties, as interpreted, have generated rules that can disrupt fundamental principles of corporate governance and corporate finance.




companies

Barbados Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Employees in Barbados stands at 11.10 percent. Social Security Rate For Employees in Barbados averaged 10.19 percent from 2009 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 11.10 percent in 2019 and a record low of 10.10 percent in 2010. In Barbados, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Barbados because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides the latest reported value for - Barbados Social Security Rate For Companies - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.




companies

Laos Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Laos stands at 6 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Laos averaged 5 percent from 2009 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 6 percent in 2016 and a record low of 4.50 percent in 2010. In Laos, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Laos because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Laos Social Security Rate For Companies- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Algeria Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Algeria stands at 26 percent. In Algeria, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate For Companies are an important source of income for the government of Algeria because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Algeria Social Security Rate For Companies - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Latvia Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Latvia stands at 24.09 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Latvia averaged 24 percent from 2004 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 24.09 percent in 2005 and a record low of 23.59 percent in 2015. In Latvia, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Latvia because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Latvia Social Security Rate For Companies - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Lithuania Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Lithuania stands at 1.77 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Lithuania averaged 29.17 percent from 2004 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 31.18 percent in 2018 and a record low of 1.77 percent in 2019. In Lithuania, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Lithuania because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Lithuania Social Security Rate For Companies - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Portugal Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Portugal stands at 23.75 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Portugal averaged 23.82 percent from 1990 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 24.50 percent in 1990 and a record low of 23.75 percent in 2013. In Portugal, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate For Companies are an important source of income for the government of Portugal because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Portugal Social Security Rate For Companies - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.




companies

Tunisia Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Tunisia stands at 16.57 percent. Social Security Rate For Companies in Tunisia averaged 16.43 percent from 2004 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 16.57 percent in 2008 and a record low of 16 percent in 2005. In Tunisia, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Tunisia because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides the latest reported value for - Tunisia Social Security Rate For Companies - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.




companies

Uganda Social Security Rate For Companies

The Social Security Rate For Companies in Uganda stands at 10 percent. In Uganda, the Social Security Rate is a tax related with labor income charged to both companies and employees. Revenues from the Social Security Rate are an important source of income for the government of Uganda because they help to pay for many social programs including welfare, health care and many other benefits. This page provides - Uganda Social Security Rate For Companies- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.