SEBI board meeting highlights: Key decisions on new delisting rules, AIF, NGOs, index providers; 5 things to know

Also Read: Sebi chair Buch cautions investors against heavy F&O bets

SEBI Board meeting key highlights

These decisions were taken by the board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) during its meeting held in Mumbai on Saturday. Here are the key decisions taken by the SEBI board during its meeting.

New Delisting regulations

Those waiting for a firm decision on new delisting rules might have to wait for more as the SEBI board on Saturday denied approval of the new regulations, citing a lack of data available.

“The delisting regulations were discussed in the meeting held today,” said Madhabi Puri Buch while addressing the press in Mumbai. The board found the data available as insufficient to conclude, she added.

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Regulatory framework for index providers

The market regulator announced the introduction of a regulatory framework for index providers. The framework will be introduced to ensure transparency and accountability in the governance and administration of financial benchmarks in the securities market.

Also Read: Sebi expands the scope of achieving minimum public unitholding requirement in InvITs. Details here

NPOs fundraising

The board also approved providing flexibility to not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) in raising funds through the social stock exchange. 

To boost NGO fundraising on the Social Stock Exchange, the SEBI board approved the reduction in minimum issue size in case of public issuance of Zero Coupon Zero Principal Instruments (ZCZP) by NPOs on SSE from Rs.1 Crore to Rs. 50 lakh. The minimum application size was also reduced to ₹10,000 from ₹2 lakh. 

Also Read: ‘Sebi has to balance development, regulation, investor protection’

Apart from this, SEBI allowed NGOs to disclose their past social impact report in the fundraising document. More NGOs will be made eligible for registration and fundraising through the issuance and listing of ZCZP on SSE by permitting entities registered under section 10(23C) and 10(46) of the Income Tax Act, said SEBI in its press release.

Small and Medium REITs (SM REITS)

Online platforms offering fractional ownership of real estate assets will be regulated by SEBI. Moreover, they will be registered under the framework for small and medium reits, according to the SEBI press release.

In a press statement issued after its quarterly board meeting, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) also said that all fresh investments by alternate investment funds would be held in demat form starting Sept. 2024. 

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said after the board meeting that investors are losing money in equity derivatives trading, which, she said was a worry and it was the regulator’s duty to warn.

AIF regulations

“The mandate for appointment of a custodian, currently applicable to schemes of Category III AIFs and schemes of Category I and II AIFs with corpus more than ₹500 crore, shall be extended to all AIFs,” said the regulator with respect to Alternative Investment Funds (AIF).

From September 2024, fresh investments made by an AIF will be made in dematerialised form. The SEBI board also made it compulsory for all AIFs to appoint a custodian. Till now, the condition applied only to schemes of Category III AIFs and to schemes of Category I and II AIFs with a corpus of more than Rs.500 Crore.

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Updated: 25 Nov 2023, 08:15 PM IST