IslamicFinance.de

Interview with director and head of Islamic Corporation for Development's India operations.
For the first time, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank has forayed into a non-member country by announcing setting up of a non-banking financial company in India through its 100% subsidiary Islamic Corporation for the Development of the private sector. Based on the Islamic principle of not charging interest on loans, ICD will operate through a registered office in Mumbai, with prominent businessman from Gujarat, Zafar Sareshwala, heading its India operations as director. In an interview with Vinay Umarji, Sareshwala talks about how the NBFC will play a catalyst for small businesses by sharing their profits and losses instead of charging interest on finance extended.

What kind of entity is Islamic Development Bank setting up in India? How will it function?

After the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cancelled Ahmedabad-based Parsoli Corporation's registration as a stock broker, the CEO of the firm, Zafar Sareshwala, claimed that his company had exited the stock-broking business voluntarily in 2010 and described the SEBI's move as a classic case of harassment. He claimed that SEBI had targeted his company because it was a Muslim firm and had proposed to bring in Islamic financing. SEBI had cancelled the certificates granted to Parsoli Corporation as a stock broker on both the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange due to observations that Parsoli was not fit and proper and was repeatedly found guilty of violating securities laws on more than one occasion.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has rejected six appeals by Parsoli Corporation Limited and its two main promoters Zafar Sareshwala and his brother Uves Sareshwala against a ruling by SEBI that Parsoli and its promoters/directors violated several provisions of the regulations and perpetrated "fraud of the worst kind on the shareholders of this company who were deprived of their shares and when caught, the directors compensated the shareholders by crediting shares in their demat accounts through off market transactions."
It appears to be the end for Parsoli Corporation and for the Sareshwala brothers.

Zafar and Uves Sareshwala, promoters of broking firm Parsoli Corporation, were debarred by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) after they were found to have fraudulently transferred shares of genuine investors to their own accounts.