Tag: Securities Regulation
-
Immediate agenda for reform before SEBI
When a new chairman takes charge at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) the media tends to be full of what the new chairman ought to be doing. Here are some action items that SEBI ought to address as a matter of priority:- a) The SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1996 (“FII Regulations”),…
-
SEBI Rationalises Filing Fee Structure
The following post is contributed by Somasekhar Sundaresan The first board meeting under the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has taken a very significant decision. SEBI has slashed the ad valorem fee rates attendant with filing of various draft offer documents, by nearly 80%, and has capped the total…
-
SEBI Reigns in Art Funds
Art funds have become a popular alternative investment avenue in India (see news reports in Moneycontrol India and Rediff Money). In a communication titled Message for Investors, SEBI has announced that art funds are collective schemes and will therefore fall within the purview of SEBI regulations. Here is the relevant extract: “This message is issued…
-
Tax Benefits for REITs Likely
An earlier post on this blog had stated that the success of REITs in India would depend upon the availability of tax benefits to the REIT vehicle in the form of a tax pass-through. The Economic Times reports that SEBI has made out a case to the Government seeking that REITs be taxed in the…
-
Minimum Public Float in Listed Companies
An area that has left an ambiguous trail over the years has been the amount of public shareholding that is required in a company at the time that it embarks on a listing and thereafter on a continuous basis. Numbers for public shareholding limits have, in the past, ranged from 60% to 40% to 25%…
-
SEBI: Proposal on Integrated Disclosures
An aspect of the Indian securities regulations that has always been somewhat puzzling is the stark disparity in the disclosure regimes governing the primary markets and secondary markets. While a strong disclosure regime has been a boon to the primary markets where companies making a public offering are required to issue a prospectus with fairly…
-
Stock Market Turmoil and the Role of Regulation
This is a cross-post from the Law and Other Things blog, to which also I contribute. Riding the downward tide of the global capital markets, Indian stock prices too tumbled 1,408 points on Monday, January 21, 2008 making investors poorer by $155 billion in a single day. The rout continued on Tuesday as well, before…
-
Stoneridge: US Supreme Court Limits Scope of Securities Law Suits
BackgroundA significant decision in the area of securities laws was handed two days ago by the US Supreme Court in the case of Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. In its judgment (available here), the court (by a 5:3 majority) held that private actions for securities fraud (under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange…
-
Simplifying Corporate Bond Issuances
Continuing with the spate of regulatory announcements by SEBI over the turn of the new year, it yesterday issued a press release proposing simplification of the primary issuance process for corporate bonds. It has released a consultative paper on the “Draft SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008” for comment until January 23,…
-
Insider Trading and Short Swing Profits
SEBI yesterday issued a Consultative Paper on introduction of ‘Short Swing Profit’ regulations in India. Under this proposal, any insider would be compelled to surrender profits to the company that are derived from a transaction involving the purchase and sale of securities by the insider within a period of six months. The consultative paper sets…
