Satish John

Mumbai: Standard & Poor’s has received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to set up a whollyowned subsidiary in India.

The arm will evolve as an ‘analytical hub’ for the international credit rating agency and cater to the fast-growing economies in south Asia. R Ravimohan, managing director and region head, S&P South Asia, said: “While Standard & Poor’s subsidiary Crisil continues to serve the ever growing demands of the domestic Indian markets, Standard & Poor’s South Asia will provide a wealth of data, contemporary global insights, knowledge and experience through an suite of products offering the financial information and analysis that investors in south Asia want.”

S&P South Asia has already made some inroads in the mutual fund segment. According to Ravimohan, the newly setup subsidiary is advising Birla Sun Life’s International Opportunities Fund on investments.

“It is already the best performing fund in that segment,” he said.

Recently S&P has set up an S&P Shariah index, which will come under the Indian subsidiary. “We have a tenmember team now,” says Ravimohan. The new firm will “leverage strongly with Crisil”.

Apart from business accruing from India, the 100% subsidiary will also cater to customers in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles, as they grow and their linkages to the international markets strengthen.

“South Asian markets are growing across the entire spectrum of economic activity and are also becoming increasingly globally linked,” Ravimohan added.

Source : DNA