Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Sep 25, 2002 |
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Markets
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Financial Services Barjeel to include American equities among services — Tie-up with broking unit soon Deeptha Rajkumar
KOCHI, Sept. 24 BARJEEL Securities LLC, a joint venture between the Kochi-based Geojit Securities Ltd and the UAE-based Al Saud Group is all set to offer American equities as part of its broking services to the NRI investor population in that region. Speaking to Business Line, Mr. C.J. George, Managing Director, Geojit Securities, said that the company was all set to finalise its tie-up with an American broking outfit to provide these services. ``Barjeel has been rendering stock broking services and trading facilities in derivative products through the NSE and BSE to its NRI clients. This additional facility would mean that an NRI investor has access to both Indian and American operation,'' Mr. George said. Barjeel's operations will be headed by Mr. T. Koshy who will be taking over as CEO of the outfit on September 28. Mr. Koshy was formerly with the Mumbai-based National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). Barjeel is also currently awaiting regulatory approval to set up office in Muscat. "For the current fiscal, our target is to open two new offices i.e. in Muscat and Bahrain,'' Mr. George said. Geojit currently has a total client base of around 6000 NRIs across the UAE. Its target is one million NRIs across the UAE. ``With this vehicle in place at Barjeel, it would be our endeavour to try and channelise FII investment into the country,'' Mr. George added. In other words, Barjeel would try and canvas West Asia institutions to register themselves as FIIs in India. This would also enable leading corporates in West Asia to start investing in India by opening a sub-account with the registered FII. With the Arab investor confidence in America having hit an all-time low in the aftermath of the September 9/11 incident, expanding operations across the UAE is a significant move. As per statistics, investments amounting to about $200 billion was withdrawn by Arab investors from America in the aftermath of the September 9/11 incident. "Asia, in particular India is emerging as a favourable destination,'' Mr. George said. Licensed by the UAE Central Bank, Barjeel is the first joint venture stock broking firm in the state that caters to the requirements of the NRI investor population. It also offers depository service arrangements for demat of shares etc. While the venture partners have invested Dh-3 million in Barjeel Securities, Geojit's stake is around 30 per cent in financial terms with an option to increase it to 40 per cent. In other words it is a 60:40 split. Currently, Barjeel Securities is headquartered in Dubai with an office in Abu Dhabi.
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