Contumacious fetishism

DESPITE a hunger for foreign capital, in India, as in many countries, there lingers a deep suspicion of foreign capitalists. So when the stockmarket index tumbled by as much as 17% in a single day—May 17th 2004—an investigation was launched into alleged murky dealings by a dozen foreign firms. A year later, the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has imposed its first sanctions. UBS Securities, the local arm of a Swiss financial giant, has been banned for a year from issuing offshore derivatives based on Indian shares. This week, there were reports that this may not be its only punishment. The central bank, the Reserve Bank, was said to be dragging its feet on approving UBS's application for a banking licence.