The French Asset Management firm Natixis Global Asset Management has sought the government of India’s approval to enter the Pension Funds management business in India.
The Government’s foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) on Tuesday deferred the proposal to its next meeting.
The investment by Natixis will be done ‘indirectly’ through another company, the FIPB said. Most foreign firms invest in India through subsidiaries in special category countries like Mauritius, to save on tax.
Natixis, which focuses on corporate and investment banking, was created in November 2006 from the merger of the asset management and investment banking operations of Natexis Banque Populaire and IXIS (Groupe Caisse d’Epargne).
On December 15, 2008, Natixis revealed that it had lost more than US$450 million in the Madoff investment scandal on Wall Street—the largest Ponzi scheme in history.