MUMBAI, February 4: Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) plans to leverage its depository-participant status in order to get into stock lending.The financial services firm, which has an asset base in excess of Rs 1,700 crore, has lined up a slew of measures to grab a major portion of the fast-growing investor population flocking to the depository.
According to sources, the firm has fixed competitive charges and launched a major marketing blitz to attract investors besides deciding to offer value-added services.
The services include providing corporate action statements on all benefits receivable by the holder, including cash benefits, and a voice-mail system whereby investors can call and enquire about their balances, initiate transactions, issue instructions, etc. Investors can also avail of a fax-on-demand facility for receiving their account statements.
Other services planned include news flashes on market moves, periodic valuation statements and margin-monitoring services forlenders on whose behalf pledged securities are held apart from lending securities as and when the legal framework permits it.
Currently, IL&FS is also offering a facility of converting an investor's physical portfolio into a paperless one as and when an investor so desires.
This facility, which is being offered to both retail and high net worth investors who are availing of the custodial services of IL&FS, will enable one agency to handle the physical and scripless holding and consolidate the holding statements.
According to sources, IL&FS, one of the first companies to join the NSDL as a depository participant, has now recognised that this is the market of the future. "We have recruited some top marketing executives for the purpose of marketing depository services of the institution. A senior executive from a foreign bank has also been roped in. We are keen to attract a large number of investors to hold depository accounts with us," said a source. The charges being levied by IL&FS also appear to beextremely competitive. The company is charging Rs 2 per certificate as demat charges and a flat fee of 0.08 per cent as transaction charges on a purchase deal and 0.02 per cent for every sale deal.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
