The SEBI Board has taken steps to enable faster rights issuance as well as flexibility in allocation to specific investors. Rights issues must be completed within 23 business days from the date the issuing company’s board of directors approves the issue, although the current average timeline is 317 days. Issuers no longer need to submit a draft offer letter or appoint a merchant banker.
SEBI is giving investors the option to trade in the spot market using the UPI block mechanism (like ASBA for secondary markets) or 3-in-1 trading facility in addition to the current trading modes. . One of the two features must be compulsorily provided by a qualified stockbroker.
norms have been relaxed
Regulators have relaxed standards for investment advisers and research analysts. Minimum qualification requirements are lowered to a graduate degree in a specific field. No experience is required to register as an IA and RA. IAs/RAs are required to obtain Basic Authentication only during initial registration. Net worth requirements are replaced by lower deposit requirements. Requirements for incorporation by individual IAs have been relaxed. The current norm is 300 clients or Rs 3 billion in fee collection during a financial year, whichever comes first, compared to the existing norm of 150 clients.
SEBI has agreed on a single filing system for listed companies to submit related reports and documents to one exchange. Recurring submissions can be consolidated into two broad categories: Consolidated Submissions (Governance) and Consolidated Submissions (Financial) to minimize the number of submissions completed. System-driven disclosure of shareholding patterns and revisions to credit ratings by stock exchanges will reduce reporting obligations for listed companies.
