India's Financial Markets: An Insider's Guide to How the Markets Work (Elsevier and IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets Press) [Hardcover]

Ajay Shah (Author), Susan Thomas (Author), Michael Gorham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2008

The whole world wants to invest in India. But how to do this successfully? Written by two Indian financial experts with a seasoned expert of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, this book tells you the why and how of investing in India. It explains how India's financial markets work, discusses the amazing growth of the Indian economy, identifies growth drivers, uncovers areas of uncertainty and risk. It describes how each market works: private equity and IPOs, bonds, stocks, derivatives, commodities, real estate, currency. The authors include a discussion of capital controls in each section to address the needs of foreign investors. Learn about the the markets, the instruments, the participants, and the institutions governing trading, clearing, and settlement of transactions, as well as the legal and regulatory framework governing financial securities transactions.

--Written by two life-long insiders who can explain India's financial markets to outsiders
--Clear and comprehensive coverage of this economic powerhouse
--Caters to the needs of foreign investors

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This detailed and insightful examination of the numerous facets of the financial services industry in one of the world's most promising emerging markets is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in Indian finance. Drawing on their long years of experience, the authors also make a number of recommendations for improvements in the regulation and structure of Indian financial markets which both government and private sector participants would do well to consider." - John P. Davidson, Managing Director, Risk Governance Group, Citigroup, United States --John P. Davidson, Chief Corporate Development Officer, CME Group

From the Back Cover

"What I love most about this book is the insight the authors provide regarding how these markets really work. India's Financial Markets is truly an insider's guide. There is no other work as current, complete and insightful. I really enjoyed this book."
- Ravi Narain, Managing Director, National Stock Exchange, India

"This detailed and insightful examination of the numerous facets of the financial services industry in one of the world's most promising emerging markets is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in Indian finance. Drawing on their long years of experience, the authors also make a number of recommendations for improvements in the regulation and structure of Indian financial markets which both government and private sector participants would do well to consider."
- John P. Davidson, Managing Director, Risk Governance Group, Citigroup, United States

"Knowledge and understanding of the Indian financial markets is vital to any financial services firm with global aspirations. Shah, Thomas and Gorham have provided an overview of these markets that is sure to become a standard reference for practitioners. Written with a clarity and pace that is to be applauded, India's Financial Markets tells you the how and why of investing in India and provides essential information on the markets, institutions, and instruments that are integral to Indian financial services.. It will be an invaluable guide for practitioners and students alike."
- Richard G. DuFour, Executive Vice President, Chicago Board Options Exchange, United States

With a stock market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, India is now on the radar of all financial firms internationally. But how does one successfully invest in India? India's Financial Markets teaches you about all the markets, the instruments, the participants, and the institutions governing trading, clearing, and settlement of transactions, as well as the legal and regulatory framework governing financial securities transactions including those by foreigners.

Ajay Shah is Senior Fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Bombay, India.
Susan Thomas is Assistant Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Bombay, India.
Michael Gorham is Director at IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and is an 18-year veteran of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Elsevier Science (August 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 012374251X
• ISBN-13: 978-0123742513
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally -- an integrated and theoretically solid introduction to India's financial markets, January 12, 2009

By 

P. V. Viswanath "PV" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: India's Financial Markets: An Insider's Guide to How the Markets Work (Elsevier and IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets Press) (Hardcover)

I have been intermittently teaching an introductory course on financial markets and corporate finance in India at Pace University for the last three years and have found it difficult to find a book that explained the modern Indian economy in a comprehensive yet fundamental and comprehensible manner. This book by Ajay Shah, Susan Thomas and Michael Gorham is a godsend. Not only does it provide information about the Indian financial markets, but it situates the information in an analytical framework, so that it becomes easy to interpret.

I must mention three chapters, in particular, which will indicate why this book is more than a simple collection of facts about Indian financial markets. Chapter 1 gives us a broad perspective of development in India, explicated using growth theory. Chapter 10 gives us a great overview of the different kinds of financial firms with an imaginative typology of these firms into fund-based, transaction-oriented and infrastructure firms. Chapter 11 provides us with a political economy of Indian financial markets, with (for such a book) a thorough treatment of the different regulatory institutions.

If the government takes the policy issues laid out in this chapter seriously, we could very easily see India developing into a mature financial market.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How this book was born., October 15, 2008

By 

J. Michael Gorham (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: India's Financial Markets: An Insider's Guide to How the Markets Work (Elsevier and IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets Press) (Hardcover)

I think this is an excellent book, a five star book to be precise, but it is not really appropriate for me to be giving a rating to the book, because I'm one of the authors. if I could make the comment I wanted to without giving a rating, I would have, but to get a comment posted you have to give the book some stars and I'm certainly not going to give it anything less than five. Enough on that.

I'm the editor of a series on books on financial markets. It's a joint project between the international publishing company Elsevier and a little Center I run called the IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets. I wanted the first book in our series to be on Indian financial markets and I knew the best two people to write it - Ajay Shah and Susan Thomas. I first met Susan when she came to Chicago on behalf of the National Stock Exchange of India to study how the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I first met Ajay a year or two later during my first visit to India, which because of an air controllers strike was truncated to approximately 24 hours. I found them both to be tireless researchers, thoughtful questioners, and enthusiastic implementors.

At the time, both were professors at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research. They both could have made a lot more money had they stayed in the US after getting their PhDs in Economics at USC, but they really wanted to contribute to the creation of a world class financial system in India. And contribute they did. They were the perfect professor - using economic and financial theory combined with empirical research to solve real world problems. They were instrumental in the development of the National Stock Exchange, which brought to India a transparent trading system that allowed investors for the first time to see the actual bids and offers availavible for each company. They developed the stock index, the S&P CNX Nifty, which is used for the overwhelming majority of all stock index derivative trading in India. They have served on numerous government committees. Susan was instrumental in convincing the government to consider the use of options to manage the risk of a shortfall in the wheat crop this past year. I could go on, but thepoint is I knew that they were perfect to write this book because they had been so involved in the markets and institutions that needed to be covered in the book. They wouldn't agree to do the book unless I did it with them, but I will tell you that this book is 90% pure Ajay Shah and Susan Thomas.

You would not be reading this note if you were not interested in India's financial system, so aside from sharing this story with you, I wanted to let you know that Ajay has one of the best financial blogs in India, which can be found at http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.com/. I hope you buy and love our book, but whether you do or not, you should sheck out Ajay's blog to keep up on developments.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent insight into the emerging Indian Financial Markets..., October 7, 2009

By 

Abhishek Rai (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: India's Financial Markets: An Insider's Guide to How the Markets Work (Elsevier and IIT Stuart Center for Financial Markets Press) (Hardcover)

This book came highly recommended to me by my peers in the financial industry. It not only covers the basic information about the emerging financial markets in India but also traces its history and concludes with some highly insightful suggestions. The expertise in global financial markets of Prof. Gorham and the familiarity with the Indian markets of Mr. Ajay and Ms. Thomas is highly reflective through the frequent comparison of the Indian financial entities with their counterparts in other countries. Such comparisons have made the book more informative and understandable.

The chapters on firms, exchanges, and real estate make an interesting read. The authors have provided relevant graphical representations of the trends and supported them with valid reasoning. Also, there is a pictorial presentation of major movers and shakers of Indian financial markets!

I highly recommend this book to students and professionals who want to gain an insight into the emerging markets of India or intend to research certain aspects of these markets. This book definitely can be considered as the first and most comprehensive study of Indian Financial Markets.

- Abhishek Rai

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