NSE & CRISIL launch portal

Mumbai, Mar 8 (UNI) National Stock Exchange (NSE) and CRISIL today announced launch of IndiaBondWatch.com - an online corporate bond information and analysis portal Sponsored jointly by them, the website will facilitate and promote the development of markets for corporate bonds and securitised debt. A comprehensive online resource for information and analysis for these markets, it would be developed as a one-stop shop for all information on corporate bonds and securitised debt, the companies said in a joint statement. The site is being developed as a stepping-stone to taking forward the recommendations of the R H Patil committee, it added. Logically integrated validated bond information that would be critical and basic to any price discovery would be the key cornerstone of the website.

National Stock Exchange CEO Ravi Narain said, '' The IndiaBondWatch initiative has been created in order to fill the information gap that currently exists in the market, and to provide a forum for analysis and discussion of the issues that impact demand, supply and secondary market liquidity of bonds and securitised debt''. The website is in the public domain and open for use by all market participants, he said, adding it contains relevant, accurate and accessible information on corporate bonds. It will also be used to disseminate data on daily trades, including price, yield and volume information.

CRISIL MD and CEO Ravimohan said, '' In addition to serving as a bond database and dissemination platform, the IndiaBondWatch website will also contain analysis, opinion and discussion forums. These features will help the development of the corporate bond and securitised debt market by raising and discussing key impeding issues faced by issuers, investors and intermediaries in these markets''. The website will also contain a reference section that will bring together all notifications, circulars, acts and regulations that have a bearing on participants in these markets, he added.

Ravimohan said '' By creating a single online resource to perform all the above functions we hope to speed up the process of reforms in these markets and thereby contribute to increasing the efficiency of capital markets and the economy as a whole''.

UNI