The Securities and Exchange Board of India's haste is set to completely kill its credibility. By giving the go by to its own clearly laid out procedures, in ordering the suspension of four BSE brokers (for Harshad Mehta-linked market manipulation), it has set itself up for humiliation by the courts. If the court ignores SEBI's appeal to its `conscience' the regulator can say that the system does not support tough action. Why did SEBI not lean on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as the self regulatory body to act against the brokers?

The BSE is not even investigating them. SEBI too is not in a hurry to ask the BSE vice president, whose firm it has indicted, to step down from his post. Last June, even the international press noted that the regulator seemed to be encouraging the BSE to hush up the payment problem. Surely a little strategy and guile would make it more effective as a regulator but does it really want to be tough?

Mission impossible?

HDFC Chairman, DeepakParekh has an impossible taskto find quick ways to rebuild investor confidence in Unit Trust of India. The committee itself is probably the finance ministry's usual trick of pretending to do something until UTI stops being front page news. If Parekh's recommendations are drastic and dramatic they will in all probability, simply be mothballed.

Notice how the ministry has cleverly included Rajendra Chitale on the committee? For those with short memories, this Chartered Accountant had once been commissioned by UTI to suggest an organisational revamp. Chitale's presence indicates that his previous recommendations were ignored (he surely cannot be there if they had failed to work). The one omission is UTI's big supporter, ex-finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia. He could have told the committee why the recommendations of N. Vaghul, Chitale et al were buried. It would save the committee the bother of making the same recommendations all over again. But then there would probably be no report atall.

Swadeshi protest

Just a few months ago, Indian investment bankers had to be prodded to make a pitch for PSU divestment, or even to suggest that blue chip PSUs could easily be sold to Indians through book building, instead of selling them cheap to the foreigners through GDRs. Why did investment bankers wait for so long to protest against foreigners hogging all the fees as `global coordinators'? Elementary, as Sherlock Holmes would have said. A few months ago the Finance Ministry had a markedly videshi bias; so they simply bottled up their protests. Now that they are assured of a little more sympathy, they are dashing off angry letters. Better a late protest than never?

Petronet blues

What is behind the story-a-day in the newspapers on Petronet -- the company which is setting up an oil pipeline grid in the country. The Reliance Groups' proposal to set up a rival and bigger pipeline network is apparently burning up several oil majors. These oil companies have been working overtime tokeep Reliance and other private players out of the Petronet holding company, even though the initial charter provides for their participation. Reliance, which is clearly set to dominate the Indian oil scene is obviously piqued. But is it serious about the rival pipeline, or is this just a ploy to ensure its entry into Petronet at the October 12 board meeting?

Safety net needed

The Industrial Finance Corporation of India, which is now seriously in the red, and whose share price is in the dangerous teens is reportedly planning a Rs 1500 crore bond issue. The market is waiting to see if the words ``safe'' and ``trust'' are used to sell them. They also want to know if the government of India is guaranteeing the bonds. After all isn't an upfront guarantee better than promising support to avert a collapse, as in case of Unit Trust of India.