Q1. Bring out in a table format the features of certificate of deposits and commercial papers.

Commercial Papers (CPs)

Commercial Papers (CPs) is a type of instrument in money market and it was introduced in Jan 1990. Commercial paper is a short-term unsecured promissory note issued by large corporations. They are issued in bearer forms on a discount to face value. It issued by the corporations to raise funds for a short-term. The maturity period ranges from 30 days to one year. CPs is negotiable by endorsement and delivery. They are highly liquid as they have buy-back facility.

The CPs is issued in denominations of Rs. 5 lakh or multiples of Rs. 5 lakh. Generally CPs is issued through banks, dealers or brokers. Sometimes they are issued directly to the investors. It is purchased mostly by the commercial banks, Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and business organisations. CPs is issued in domestic as well as international financial markets. In international financial markets, they are known as Euro-commercial paper.

Certificate of Deposits (CDs)

Certificate of deposit (CDs) is a short-term instrument issued by commercial banks and financial institutions. It is a document issued for the amount deposited in a bank for a specified period at a specified rate of interest. The concerned bank issues a receipt which is both marketable and transferable in the market. The receipts are in bearer or registered form. CDs are known as negotiable instruments and they are also known as Negotiable Certificates of Deposit. Basically they are a part of bank’s deposit; hence they are riskless in terms of payments and principal amount. CDs are interest-bearing, maturity-dated

obligations of banks. CDs benefit both the banker and the investor. The bankers need not encash the deposit before the maturity and the investor can sell the CDs in the secondary market before the maturity. This contributes to the liquidity and ready marketability for the instrument. CDs can be issued only by the schedule banks. It is issued at discount to face value. The discount rate depends on the market conditions. CDs are issued in the multiples of Rs. 25 lakh and the minimum size of the issue is Rs.1 crore. The maturity period ranges from three months to one year.

The introduction of CDs in Indian market was assessed in 1980. RBI appointed the Vaghul Working Group to study the Indian market for five years. Based on the suggestions of Vaghul committee; RBI formulated a scheme for the issue of CDs. As per the scheme, CDs can be issued only by the scheduled banks at a discount rate to face value. There is no restriction on the discount rate by the RBI.