File @ SEBI Regional office for Issue size UPTO 100 crores for prescribed States with New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai & Kolkata

SEBI extends the role of its Regional offices to accept applications for public issues under ICDR regulations vide CIR/CFD/DIL/9/2010 dated 13th October 2010

When issue size is 100 crores or less

SEBI, New Delhi office for Companies proposed to be listed in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi & Uttarakhand

SEBI, Kolkata office for Companies proposed to be listed in Assam, Bihar,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, West Bengal, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Jharkhand

SEBI, Chennai office for Companies proposed to be listed in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tami Nadu & Puducherry

SEBI, Ahmedabad office for Companies proposed to be listed in Gujarat & Rajasthan.

For other states & when issue size is more than 100 crores

At SEBI Bhawan, Mumbai.

Merchant Bankers are accordingly advised to file the draft offer documents / offer documents with the concerned office of SEBI, based on the estimated issue size accordingly.

Download Notification.

No preferential allotment to promoter for 1 year on warrant failure, Be a retail investor UPTO 2 lakhs, Advertise filing of offer documents, Uniform allotment in offer to public, Asks company to decide whether partly/fully paid shares - SEBI ICDR 4th Amendment 2010

SEBI Issue of Capital & Disclosure Requirements - ICDR (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2010: The amendment includes postal insurance funds as QIB, increases retail investor limit to 2 lakhs [ie, those who will fall in the 35% in net offer category], mandates company to advertise filing of offer documents, clarifies on pending convertible securities before IPO, as usual puts extra responsibility on Merchant banker to certify on advertisements issued in all types of media, unifies allotment in offer to public as 50%-35%-15% (for QIB-Retail-Others), issue to give either part payment or full payment option to investors (& not both) and finally clarifies on eligibility of Preferential Allotment to Promoters or Promoters Group (i.e) if they have sold shares within past 6 months or if they have failed to exercise warrants issued within past 1 year, then such promoters/promoters group becomes ineligible for preferential allotment.

Retail investors/reservation to employees limit extended

Reg 2(ze) “retail individual investor” means an investor who applies or bids for specified securities for a value of not more than  Rs. 2 lakhs (erstwhile limit was Rs. 1 lakh).

Reg 2(zf) “retail individual shareholder” means a shareholder of a listed issuer, who applies or bids for specified securities for a value of not more than Rs. 2 lakhs.

Reg 42(4): The reservation on competitive basis to any employee shall not exceed Rs. 2,00,000/- (erstwhile limit was Rs. 1,00,000)

Reg 2(zd) “Qualified Institutional Buyer” (QIB) has 12 items now:

“(xii) insurance funds set up and managed by the Department of Posts, India.”

In addition to SEBI, Stock Exchange & Merchant banker who publish draft offer documents in their website, the company shall publish the same in dailies

New Reg 9(3): The issuer company either on the date of filing the draft offer document with SEBI or on the next day shall make a public  announcement in one English/Hindi/Regional daily newspaper with wide  circulation about the fact of filing of draft offer document with SEBI and inviting public comments.

Reg 26(5): IPO can be made with FULLY PAID outstanding convertible securities which are required to be converted on or before the date of filing of prospectus.

Same allocation even if minimum public shareholding is 10/25%Reg 43(2): Allocation in net offer to public category shall be:

• UPTO 50% to QIB
• Atleast 35% to Retail Investors
• Atleast 15% to Non-Institutional Investors

(irrespective of whether the offer is made under Rule 19(2)(b) or not [i.e, even if minimum public shareholding is 10%])

Hence, the erswhile limits of 60%, 30%, 10% will  not apply.

Make it fully paid or partly paid & not both

New Reg 54(7):  “The issuer shall give only one payment option out of the following to all the investors -  

(a) part payment on application with balance money to be paid in  calls; or 
(b) full payment on application:

Provided that where the issuer has given the part payment option to  investors, such issuer shall  obtain the necessary regulatory  approvals to facilitate the same.”

Now, Merchant banker shall also certify the Public communications, publicity materials, advertisements and research reports in all medias

New Reg 60(14): “The merchant bankers shall submit a compliance certificate in the format specified in  Part D of Schedule XIII, for the period between the date of filing the draft offer document with SEBI and the date of closure of the issue, in respect of news reports appearing in any of the following media:
(a) newspapers mentioned in sub-regulation (3) of regulation 9;
(b) major business magazines;
(c) print and electronic media controlled by a media group where the media group has a private treaty/shareholders’ agreement with the issuer or promoters of the issuer.”

Conditions for Preferential Allotment made more stringent

“Explanation: Where any person belonging to promoter(s) or the promoter group has sold his  equity shares in the issuer during the 6 months preceding the relevant date, the promoter(s) and promoter group shall be ineligible for  allotment of specified securities on preferential basis”.

New Reg 72(3): Where any person belonging to promoter(s) or the  promoter group has previously subscribed to warrants of an issuer but failed to exercise the warrants, the promoter(s) and promoter group shall be ineligible for issue of specified securities of such issuer on preferential basis for a period of one year from the date of expiry of the tenure/cancellation of  the  warrants.

Download the SEBI ICDR 4th Amendment 2010 issued vide No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/19/26456 dated 12th November 2010

SEBI interprets whether offer to 50 or more persons amounts to public & thereby mandates listing under Companies Act, irrespective of intention to list its securities with Stock Exchange - reading together Section 55A with 73

On 24th November 2010, it happened!!!  SEBI, the watch dog of Indian Capital Market did its part of research on Companies Act to understand the powers which are already vested with it and has come out [barking :-)] with brilliant interpretations. 

SEBI takes a re-look on

Section 55A, 56, 60B, 67, 73 & 81(1A) of Companies Act, 1956

DIRECTIONS UNDER SECTIONS 11(1), 11(4)(b), 11A(1)(b) AND 11B issued under SEBI ACT, 1992 READ WITH REGULATION 107 OF SEBI (ISSUE OF CAPITAL AND DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS - ICDR) REGULATIONS, 2009 IN THE MATTER OF ISSUANCE OF OPTIONALLY FULLY CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES (OFCD) BY SAHARA INDIA REAL ESTATE CORPORATION LIMITED (SIREC) AND SAHARA HOUSING INVESTMENT CORPORATION LIMITED (SHICL).  Lets refer SIREC & SHICL as “Company”.

The Company’s point of view

a. OFCD issuance of SIRECL and SHICL do not come under the purview of SEBI as Section 55A of the Companies Act, 1956 delegates the administrative power to SEBI only with respect to the listed public companies and those public companies which are intending to get their securities listed in India. Since the said companies have stated in the RHP filed with the RoC that, they do not intend to get the OFCDs listed in any stock exchanges in India or abroad, the issuance of OFCDs does not come under the purview of SEBI.
Note: OFCD is a security and is convertible into Equity Shares and is not in the nature of “Non-Convertible Debt Security”.

b. Issuance of OFCDs was made on private placement basis and is restricted to a select group (however large, they may be), it ceases to be an offer to the public.
c. When securities are issued to more than 50 persons, by following the procedure laid down under Section 60B of the Companies Act, 1956, by circulation of information memorandum and filing of Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) with the RoC, it would not be necessary to list the securities so offered and the issue shall remain outside the purview of SEBI.

What did SEBI analyse?

a) Whether the impugned OFCD offers have been made to the public and if so, whether listing of the OFCDs, so offered, is mandatory?
b) Whether Section 60B of the Act provides “an alternative route” for raising capital without complying with Section 73 of the Act and other SEBI requirements, as contended by the companies?

What does Companies Act say?

Section 67: The essence of this section is that “who can apply for securities in response to invitation shall be checked to determine whether it is an offer to public” and lays certain criteria for that.

The said Section explicitly states that any reference in the Act or in the articles of a company to offering (or inviting to subscribe) for shares or debentures to the public shall be construed as including a reference to offering them (or inviting them to subscribe) to any section of the public, whether selected as members or debenture holders of the company concerned or as clients of the person issuing the prospectus or in any other manner.

Provisio to Section 67(3) as summarised by SEBI:  Even if an issue is made by way of private placement to 50 or more persons, it would be deemed to be a public issue (“deemed to be a public issue”) irrespective of whether it was offered to public at large or to just a section of the public chosen, in whatever manner.

Further, any further issue of capital, even pursuant to a resolution made under Section 81(1A) of the Act (dealing private placement to select group of persons), is subject to the provisions of Part III of the Act (dealing with Prospectus), if the offer is made to 50 persons or more.

The filing of a prospectus under the Act signfies the intention of the issuer to raise funds from the public. – SEBI infers!!!

Whether listing is mandatory for all public issues?

As per Section 73(1) of the Act, every company intending to offer shares or debentures to the public for subscription by the issue of a prospectus shall, before such issue, make an application to one or more recognized stock exchanges for permission for (listing of) the shares or debentures intending to be so offered to be dealt with in a stock exchange or each such stock exchange.

As per Section 73(2) of the Act, where any listing permission is not applied, as observed in the present case, the companies are required to refund all the money received as subscription within the stipulated time.

The intention of the companies to list or not is immaterial as it is mandated by the Act – SEBI infers!!!

SEBI Order analyses Section 55A & Section 73

The words “intend to get their securities listed” in Section 55A(1) (b) of the Act (which gives the power to SEBI) is clearly synonymous with the words “intend to offer their securities to public” (as per Section 73), as law mandates compulsory listing in case of public issues and specifies that any condition to waive this requirement is void [as per Section 73(4)].

If to 50 or more persons, then to 1000 or more persons!!!

Once the company is mandated to list, it shall comply with the requirements of SEBI ICDR regulation as the debentures are convertible into Equity.  Reading Section 67 with ICDR:

Once the issuer decides to offer its securities to 50 or more persons, then the issue is an offer to public at large, complying with the provisions prescribed in the ICDR Regulations which mentions that an issuer shall not make an allotment pursuant to a public issue if the number of prospective allottees is less than 1000, to ensure there is sufficient liquidity in the scrip post listing.

In such case, it shall file RHP with SEBI atleast 30 days in advance before filing the same with RoC – SEBI infers!!!

SEBI tooks pains to highlight the clauses of ICDR not complied with, in this link:

http://www.sebi.gov.in//cmorder/SaharaAnnexure.pdf

SEBI also claims the Prospectus filed by the company is not fully adequate with requisite legal information.  On analysing the above mentioned violation of Companies Act & some other observations by SEBI on the financials had issued an ad interim, ex-parte Order vide WTM/KMA/CFD/316/11/2010.

The Company claims unlisted companies cannot come under the purview of SEBI

The company deems the order as imprudent and irrational vide its RESPONSE as this order created a confusion among public that Sahara’s IPO is rejected (which is not at all the case though!!!).  Further, in the interest, image and goodwill of entire Sahara India Pariwar, the company has disclosed the details in its RESPONSE.

SEBI’s Order: WTM/KMA/CFD/316/11/2010

Sahara’s Response: RESPONSE

This case may give an answer to the BERMUDA TRIANGLE of what if issue to 50 or more persons but less than 1000 persons. 

• Will the company take the Writ route to re-examine the jurisdiction of SEBI with respect to Section 55A read with Section 73?
• Believe, this cannot have the same HAPPY ENDING with Consent Order at later stages. 

We shall await for the Securities Appellate Tribunal’s (SAT) interesting response. 

Monthly Portfolio Management Activity report to be filed within 5 days of month at SEBI portal - Revised format

Sub: Monthly reporting by Portfolio Managers
Please refer to SEBI circular SEBI/IMD/PMS/CIR-3/2009 dated June 11, 2009 regarding submission of monthly report by portfolio managers.

The format for the monthly report on portfolio management activity has been revised as per enclosed Annexure. All portfolio managers are advised to upload the report in the revised format on SEBI Portal by the 5th of the following month with effect from the report for the month of October 2010 onwards.

Procedure to upload monthly report on portal is as follows:

a. Log on to SEBI Portal at https://portal.sebi.gov.in. using the Username and Password provided at the time of Registration/ Renewal as a portfolio manager.

b. Select the portfolio manager tab

c. Select the link: PM Monthly Report

d. Fill the data in the format provided

e. Save the data and then Submit.

Download Revised PM Monthly Report

Source: Cir. /IMD/DF/14/2010 dated 8th October 2010

Download Referencer on Secretarial Audit under Corporate Governance Voluntary Guidlines for Company Secretaries issued by ICSI, good read through

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India released CORPORATE GOVERNANCE VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES 2009 on December 21, 2009. The preamble to Guidelines states that “These guidelines provide for a set of good practices which may be voluntarily adopted by the Public companies. Private companies, particularly the bigger ones, may also like to adopt these guidelines.”

The Guidelines, amongst other things, recommend the introduction of Secretarial Audit. Para V of the Guidelines states that :

“Since the Board has the overarching responsibility of ensuring transparent, ethical and responsible governance of the company, it is important that the Board processes and compliance mechanisms of the company are robust. To ensure this, the companies may get the Secretarial Audit conducted by a competent professional. The Board should give its comments on the Secretarial Audit in its report to the shareholders.”

Companies, which do not adopt these guidelines, either fully or partially, are expected to inform their shareholders about the reasons for not adopting these Guidelines. This is in consonance with the popular doctrine of “Comply or Explain”. The Board should give its comments on the Secretarial Audit in Directors’ Report as provided in Para V of the Guidelines.

Download Reference on Secretarial Audit issued by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for the purpose of Corporate Governance Voluntary Guidelines

All investor related documents of MF like PAN, KYC, PoA specimen signature shall be updated by AMC/RTA & get it audited - Mandatory for all new schemes also

Updation of investor related documents
SEBI vide circular No. SEBI/IMD/CIR No.12 /186868 /2009 dated December 11, 2009 has inter alia advised mutual funds to confirm whether all the investor related documents are maintained/ available with them. Further in case the investor related documentation was incomplete, the trustees of the mutual funds were advised not to make further payment to such distributors till full compliance/ completion of the steps enumerated in the said circular and to send a status to SEBI as and when process is completed to satisfaction.

SEBI has not received any confirmation from the trustees of the mutual funds on the completion of the process as mandated in the said circular. Thus it appears that all the investor related documentation is not available with the AMCs. It has been observed that due to such incomplete documentation investors’ rights to approach the AMCs directly are restricted and investors are forced to depend on the distributors for executing any financial or non-financial transactions.

In order to ensure that investors have unrestricted access to AMCs and to enable AMCs to provide prompt investor service including execution of investors’ financial or non-financial transactions, all mutual funds/ AMCs are directed that:
All new folios/ accounts shall be opened only after ensuring that all investor related documents including account opening documents, PAN, KYC, PoA (if applicable), specimen signature are available with AMCs/RTAs and not just with the distributor.
For existing folios, AMCs shall be responsible for updation of the investor related documents including account opening documents, PAN, KYC, PoA (if applicable), specimen signature by November 15, 2010.

The trustees shall submit a confirmation after they receive certification from an Independent auditor on completion of the said process latest by November 22, 2010.

Mutual Funds/Asset Management Companies shall comply with the above requirements in letter and spirit.

Source: SEBI Cir / IMD / DF / 9 / 2010 dated 12th August 2010

All amended SEBI circulars on Arbitration mechanism in stock exchange as governed by Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996

Revised Arbitration Mechanism in Stock Exchanges
In consultation with the stock exchanges, it has been decided to streamline the arbitration mechanism available at stock exchanges for arbitration of disputes (claims, complaints, differences, etc.) arising between a client and a member (Stock Broker, Trading Member and Clearing Member) across various market segments.

A stock exchange shall provide an arbitration mechanism for settlement of disputes between a client and a member through arbitration proceedings in accordance with the provisions of this Circular read with Section 2(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation, Act, 1996.

This circular CIR/MRD/DSA/24/2010 dated 11th August 2010 modifies provisions relevant to arbitration, contained in the following SEBI Circulars:-
i. Master Circular as on 31st March 2010
ii. SEBI/MRD/DSA-OIAE/Cir-09/2010 dated April 1, 2010
iii. CIR/MRD/DSA/10/2010 dated April 6, 2010

SEBI Clarification: AMC Addendum:all mutual fund schemes in demat form shall be freely transferable from 1st October, 2010 (except ELSS)

Transferability of Mutual Fund units

Regulation 37(1) of SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996 states that:

“a unit unless otherwise restricted or prohibited under the scheme, shall be freely transferable by act of parties or by operation of law.”

The spirit and intention of this regulation is not to prohibit transferability of units as a general rule or practice. However, it is noticed that mutual fund schemes prohibit transfer on a regular basis instead of on an exceptional basis.

In order to facilitate transferability of units of mutual funds held in one demat account to another demat account, it has been decided that all Asset Management Companies (AMCs) shall clarify by way of an addendum that units of all mutual fund schemes held in demat form shall be freely transferable from the date of the issue of said addendum which shall be not later than October 1, 2010. However, restrictions on transfer of units of Equity Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS) during the lock-in period shall continue to be applicable as per the ELSS Guidelines.

Source: SEBI CIR/IMD/DF/10/2010 dated 18th August 2010

New format of disclosure of derviatives by Mutual Fund & investment/exposure norms amended

Review of norms for investment and disclosure by Mutual Funds in derivatives
Please refer to the circular DNPD/CIR-29/2005 dated September 14 2005, circular MFD/CIR/9/120/2000 dated November 24 2000, and SEBI circular MFD/CIR/18337/2002 dated September 19, 2002 on investment in derivatives by mutual funds and disclosures thereof in half yearly portfolio statement.

In order to have prudential limits for derivative investments by mutual funds and to bring in transparency and clarity in the disclosure of the same to investors, it has been decided to bring in certain modification in the aforesaid circulars.

Disclosure of derivatives in Half Yearly Portfolios
The manner of disclosure of derivatives position in half yearly portfolio disclosure reports has not been specified in the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 and the disclosures being currently made are not uniform across the industry. Therefore, the following format for the purpose of uniform disclosure of investments in derivative instruments by Mutual Funds in half yearly portfolio disclosure, annual report or in any other disclosures is prescribed.

Effective date: The provisions shall be applicable for all new schemes launched post the issue of the circular. For all existing schemes, compliance with the circular shall be effective from October 01, 2010.

Source:SEBI Cir/ IMD/ DF/ 11/ 2010 dated 18th August 2010

Fund of Fund MF schemes expense structure in offer document & change amounts to fundamental attribute requiring exit option to unit holders

Fund of funds mutual fund schemes shall adopt either of the total expense structures laid out in Regulation 52(6)(a) of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996, as amended by SEBI (Mutual Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010, which Asset Management Companies shall clearly indicate in the scheme information documents (SID).  Fund of Fund schemes, existing as on July 29, 2010, shall, with the approval of trustees, adopt either of the total expense structures laid out in Regulation 52(6)(a) and change the total expense structure after giving the unitholders an option to exit in accordance with Regulation 18(15A). [In case of change in fundamental attributes in terms of Regulation 18 (15A), SID shall be revised and updated immediately after completion of duration of exit option.]

Regulation 52(6)(a): The total expenses of the scheme excluding issue or redemption expenses, whether initially borne by the mutual fund or by the asset management company, but including the investment management and advisory fee shall be subject to the following limits:—

in case of a fund of funds scheme, the total expenses of the scheme including the management fees shall be either:-
(i) not exceeding 0.75% of the daily or weekly average net assets, depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis; or
(ii) it may consist of -
(A)management fees for the scheme not exceeding 0.75% of the daily or weekly average net assets depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis;
(B) other expenses relating to administration of the scheme; and
(C) charges levied by the underlying schemes:
Provided that the sum total of (A), (B) and the weighted average of the total expense ratio of the underlying schemes shall not exceed 2.50% of the daily or weekly average net assets (depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis) of the scheme.

Source: SEBI Cir / IMD / DF / 8 / 2010 dated 6th August 2010

Download SME Listing Agreement & understand deviations from Equity; how to set up SME Exchange with networth of 100 crores & requirements under SCRA

Sub: Conditions of listing for issuers seeking listing on SME Exchange - Model SME Equity Listing Agreement In recognition of the need for making finance available to small and medium enterprises, SEBI has decided to encourage promotion of dedicated exchanges and/or dedicated platforms of the exchanges for listing and trading of securities issued by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”). Consequently, SEBI amended SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 (“SEBI (ICDR) Regulations”) by inserting a Chapter XA on “Issue of specified securities by small and medium enterprises”, through notification dated April 13, 2010. In continuation of the same and to facilitate listing of specified securities in the SME exchange, “Model Equity Listing Agreement” to be executed between the issuer and the Stock Exchange, to list/migrate the specified securities on SME Exchange, is specified through this circular.

SME listing agreement is same as Equity listing agreement.  However, certain relaxations are provided to the issuers whose securities are listed on SME exchange in comparison to the listing requirements in Main Board (= other than SME Exchanges), which inter-alia include the following:

a. Companies listed on the SME exchange may send to their shareholders, a statement containing the salient features of all the documents [in abridged form], as prescribed in proviso to section 219(b)(iv) of the Companies Act, 1956, instead of sending a full Annual Report;
b. Periodical financial results may be submitted on “half yearly basis”, instead of “quarterly basis” under Clause 41 and
c. Every issuer listed under SME Exchange shall have their own website.

d. SMEs need not publish their financial results in newspapers, as required in the Main Board (= other than SME Exchanges)  and can make it available on their website.

Download SME Listing Agreement

Sub: Setting up of a Stock exchange/ a trading platform by a recognized stock exchange

A. A company desirous of being recognized as a SME exchange may apply to Market Regulation Department, SEBI, in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act,1956 ( SCRA) read with the provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957 (the SCRR), subject to the applicant fulfilling the following conditions:
(i) It is a corporatised and demutualised entity and is compliant with requirements of maintaining public shareholding and shareholding restrictions in accordance with Chapters II and III of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Manner of Increasing and Maintaining Public Shareholding in Recognised Stock Exchanges) Regulations, 2006;
(ii) It has a balance sheet networth of atleast Rs. 100 crores;
(iii) It shall have nation wide trading terminals and an online screen-based trading system, a suitable Business Continuity Plan including a disaster recovery site;
(iv) It shall have an online surveillance capability which monitors positions, prices and volumes in real time so as to check market manipulation;
(v) It shall have adequate arbitration and investor grievances redressal mechanism operative from all the four regions of the country.
(vi) It shall have adequate inspection capability;
(vii) It shall have the same risk management system and surveillance system as are required for cash market segment of a recognised stock exchange;
(viii) Information about trades, quantities, and quotes shall be disseminated by the recognized stock exchange in real time to at least two information vending networks which are accessible to investors in the country;
(ix) The trading system of the stock exchange may be quote driven or a hybrid of quote driven and order driven. The settlement system in the stock exchange shall be the same as that of the cash market of a recognised stock exchange;
(x) The clearing function of the stock exchange shall be performed by a clearing corporation/ clearing house;
(xi) The minimum lot size for trading on the stock exchange shall be one lakh rupees.
B. The above eligibility criteria shall mutatis mutandis apply to recognised stock exchanges having nation wide trading terminals and which
desires to set up a trading platform for listing of the specified securities issued in terms of Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009. Such recognised stock exchange shall file an application demonstrating its compliance with the conditions mentioned in subpara (i) to (xi) of para 6 above alongwith the proposed Rules, Regulations and Byelaws for the SME platform. Such a platform can be operationalised by the recognised stock exchange only after obtaining prior approval of SEBI.

Source:

1. Setting up of a Stock exchange/ a trading platform by a recognized
   stock exchange having nationwide trading terminals for SME vide CIR/MRD/DSA/17/2010 dated 18th May 2010.
2. Conditions of listing for issuers seeking listing on SME Exchange - Model SME Equity Listing Agreement vide CIR/CFD/DIL/6/2010 dated May 17, 2010.

ASBA for all, Discounted price for employees, issuer can regulate bids, fti liberalised as to SCN, reservation for other employees also, lock-in preferential issue sica, IDR %: SEBI ICDR Amendments 2010

Download the Updated Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 as on date.  There are three amendments in SEBI ICDR Regulations in 2010 which are,

Date	Details
13-Apr- 2010	Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements)(Third Amendment) Regulations, 2010
08-Jan- 2010	Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) (Second Amendment)Regulations, 2010
01-Jan- 2010	Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Amendment Regulations, 2010

SEBI ICDR First Amendment January 2010

Regulation 58: Abridged prospectus, abridged letter of offer and ASBA.

(5) In all public issues and rights issues, where not more than one payment option is given, the issuer shall provide the facility of ASBA in accordance with the procedure and eligibility criteria specified by SEBI. [earlier it was available only to retail investors]

(6) An application through ASBA form may be made:
(a) in a public issue, by an applicant who:
(i) is a resident retail individual investor;
(ii) is bidding at cut-off, with single option as to the number of shares bid for;
(iii) is applying through blocking of funds in a bank account with the self certified
syndicate banks;
(iv) has agreed not to revise his bid;
(v) is not bidding under any of the reserved categories;
(b) in a rights issue, by an applicant who:
(i) holds the shares of the issuer in dematerialised form as on the record date and has
applied for entitlements and/or additional equity shares in dematerialised form;
(ii) has not renounced his entitlements in full or in part;
(iii) is not a renouncee;
(iv) who is applying through blocking of funds in a bank account with the Self Certified
Syndicate Bank. [Omitted]

In schedule XI, in Part A, in para (12), in clause (i), the bracket and words “(except ASBA investors)” shall be omitted.

SEBI ICDR Second Amendment January 2010

 

Regulation 29: Differential Pricing

After clause (c), following clause shall be inserted , namely:-

“(d) In case the issuer opts for the alternate method of book building in terms of Part D of Schedule XI, the issuer may offer specified securities to its employees at a price lower than the floor price:
Provided that the difference between the floor price and the price at which specified securities are offered to employees shall not be more than 10% of the floor price.”

In schedule XI, in Part D, [alternate method of book building]-
“(b) The issuer shall disclose a floor price in the red herring prospectus. The issuer may mention the floor price in the red herring prospectus (RHP) or if the floor price is not mentioned in the red herring prospectus, the issuer shall announce the floor price at least one working day before opening of the bid in all the newspapers in which the pre-issue advertisement was released.”

“(c) Investors other than retail individual investors shall bid at any price above the floor price.   Qualified institutional buyers (QIB) shall bid at any price above the floor price.” [as discounted price is allowed to employees, retail investors, etc…]

“(e) Allotment shall be on price priority basis for investors other than retail individual investors.  Allotment shall be on price priority basis for qualified institutional buyers.”

“(f) Allotment to retail individual investors shall be made proportionately as illustrated in this Schedule.  Allotment to retail individual investors, non-institutional investors and
employees of the issuer shall be made proportionately as illustrated in this Schedule.”

“(h) Retail individual investors shall be allotted specified securities at the floor price. Retail individual investors, non-institutional investors and employees shall be allotted specified securities at the floor price subject to provisions of clause (d) of regulation 29.”

“(i)  The issuer may place a cap either in terms of number of specified securities or percentage of issued capital of the issuer that may be allotted to a single bidder.  The issuer may:-
(A) place a cap either in terms of number of specified securities or percentage of issued capital of the issuer that may be allotted to a single bidder;
(B) decide whether a bidder be allowed to revise the bid upwards or downwards in terms of price and/or quantity;
(C) decide whether a bidder be allowed single or multiple bids.”

SEBI ICDR Third Amendment April 2010

Regulation 2(1)

(c)“anchor investor" means a qualified institutional buyer [who makes] an application for a value of ten crore rupees or more in a public issue made through the book building process in accordance with these regulations;

(m) “employee” means a permanent and full-time employee of the issuer, working in India or abroad, [of the issuer or of the holding company or subsidiary company or of that material associate(s) of the issuer whose financial statements are consolidated with the issuer’s financial statements as per Accounting Standard 21], or a director of the issuer, whether whole time or part time and does not include promoters and an immediate relative of the promoter (i.e., any spouse of that
person, or any parent, brother, sister or child of the person or of the spouse);

(zf) “retail individual shareholder” means a shareholder of a listed issuer, who:
(i) as on the date fixed for the purpose of determining shareholders eligible for reservation in terms of [regulation 42] of these regulations, is holding equity shares which, on the basis of the closing price of the equity shares on the recognised stock exchange in which highest trading volume in respect of the equity shares of the issuer was recorded as on the previous day, are worth up to one lakh rupees; and (ii) applies or bids for specified securities for a value of not more than one lakh rupees;

Regulation 8: Documents to be submitted before opening of the issue by Lead Merchant Banker with Draft offer document

(1)(e): a certificate in the format specified in [Part C] of Schedule VII, confirming compliance of the conditions mentioned therein.

Regulation 10: Fast Track issue

(1)(g): no show-cause notices have been issued or prosecution proceedings initiated [by SEBI] or pending against the issuer or its promoters or whole time directors as on the reference date;

Regulation 13: Underwriting

(2) Where the issuer makes a public issue through the book building process, such issue shall be underwritten by book runners or syndicate members:
Provided that fifty per cent. [sixty per cent, if public issue is made with at least ten per cent. public offer under clause (b) of sub-rule (2) of rule 19 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957] of the net offer to public proposed to be compulsorily allotted to qualified institutional buyers for the purpose of compliance of the eligibility conditions specified in sub-regulation (2) of regulation 26 and [regulation 27] cannot be underwritten.

Regulation 26: Conditions for IPO

(5) No issuer shall make an initial public offer if [as on the date of registering the prospectus with the Registrar of Companies] there are any outstanding convertible securities or any other right which would entitle any person any option to receive equity shares after the initial public offer: Provided that…..

Regulation 29: Differential Pricing – [as the word “of the issuer” is removed as mentioned below, discounted price can be offered beyond the employees of issuer company also].

(a) retail individual investors or retail individual shareholders or employees[***] entitled for reservation made under regulation 42 making an application for specified securities of value not more than one lakh rupees, may be offered specified securities at a price lower than the price at which net offer is made to other categories of applicants: Provided…

Further, the same is also reiterated in Regulation 55A dealing with Reservation for [its] employees alongwith rights issue by removing the word “its”.

Regulation 42:  Reservations on competitive basis

“(1)(a) employees of the issuer including employees of the promoting companies in case of a new issuer; employees; and in case of a new issuer, persons who are in the permanent and full time employment of the promoting companies excluding the promoters and an immediate relative of the promoter of such companies;”

“(2)(a) employees of the issuer including employees of the promoting companies in case of a new issuer; employees; and in case of a new issuer, persons who are in the permanent and full time employment of the promoting companies excluding the promoters and an immediate relative of the promoter of such companies;”

Regulation 46: Period of Subscription

(1) [Except as otherwise provided in these regulations] a public issue shall be kept open for at least three working days but not more than ten working days including the days for which the issue is kept open in case of revision in price band.

Regulation 70. [Preferential issue to Company under SICA shall be subject to lock-in, though exempt from other preferential issue regulations.]

(1) The provisions of Preferential Issue shall not apply where the preferential issue of equity shares is made:
(a) pursuant to conversion of loan or option attached to convertible debt instruments in terms of sub-sections (3) and (4) of sections 81 of the Companies Act, 1956;
(b) pursuant to a scheme approved by a High Court under section 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956;
(c) in terms of the rehabilitation scheme approved by the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985:
[Provided that the lock-in provisions of this Chapter shall apply to preferential issue of equity shares mentioned in clause (c).]

Regulation 98: Conditions for issue of IDR

(e) the balance fifty per cent. may be allocated among the categories of non-institutional investors and retail individual investors including employees at the discretion of the issuer and the manner of allocation shall be disclosed in the prospectus. Allotment to investors within a category shall be on proportionate basis:
[Provided that at least thirty per cent. of the IDRs being offered in the public issue {erstwhile it was 30% of the 50%} shall be available for allocation to retail individual investors and in case of under subscription in retail individual investor category, spillover to other categories to the extent of under subscription may be permitted.
Explanation: For the purpose of this regulation, “employee” shall mean a person who,-
(a) is a resident of India, and
(b) is a permanent and full-time employee or a director, whether whole time or part time, of the issuer or of the holding company or subsidiary company or of the material associate(s) of the issuer, whose financial statements are
consolidated with the issuer’s financial statements, working in India and does not include promoters and an immediate relative of the promoter (i.e., any spouse of that person, or any parent, brother, sister or child of the person or of the spouse).]

In Schedule IV,

• in Part A, for clause (b) with respect to Rights issue, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
  “(b) In case of a rights issue: An alteration as to fees is made.”
• in Part B, for the words “Para 3” , the words “Para 2” shall be substituted.

In Schedule VI,

• in Form A, for reference title, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
  “[See regulations 8(1)(c), 10(3)(a) and 106C(2)]”
• (b) in Form D, in the note, for the figure, bracket and word “2(b)”, the figure, bracket and word “1(b)” shall be substituted.

In Schedule VIII,

(a) in Part A, in Para (2), -
(A) in item (VI),-
(I) in sub-item (B), in clause (15), for sub-clause (e), the following shall be
substituted, namely:-
“(e) The underwriting agreement shall list out the role and obligations of each
syndicate member and inter-alia contain a clause stating that margin collected shall be uniform across all categories indicating the percentage to be paid as margin by the investor at the time of bidding.”
(II) in sub-item (D), in clause (2),-
(i) in sub-clause (i), in section (ii), after the words “regulation 2”, the bracket
“)”shall be inserted;
(ii) in sub-clause (j), in section (iv), after the words “regulation 32”, the words
“and regulation 33” shall be inserted;
(iii)in sub-clause (r), after section (xvii), the following shall be inserted,
namely:-
“(xviii) the details of the number of shares issued in ESPS, the price at which
such shares are issued, employee-wise details of the shares issued to
• senior managerial personnel;
• any other employee who is issued shares in any one year amounting to
5% or more shares issued during that year;
• identified employees who were issued shares during any one year equal
to or exceeding 1% of the issued capital of the company at the time of
issuance;
(xix) diluted Earning Per Share (EPS) pursuant to issuance of shares under
ESPS; and consideration received against the issuance of shares.”
(B) in item (VIII),-
(I) in sub-item (D), in clause (3), sub-clause (f) shall be omitted;
(II) in sub-item (E), in clause (8), in sub-clause (j), for the word
“discussed” appearing at the end, the word “disclosed” shall be
substituted;
(C) in item (IX),-
(I) in sub-item (B),-
(i) in clause (12), in sub-clause (a), in section (v), for the mark and
words “(c) or (d)”, the mark and words “(iii) or (iv)” shall be
substituted;
(ii) in clause (16), in sub-clause (b), after the words “loan taken”
and before the words “by the promoters”, the words “from the
issuer” shall be inserted;
(II) in sub-item(C), in clause (2), before the proviso the following
paragraph shall be inserted, namely:-

“In case there are no listed group companies, the financial information shall be given for the five largest unlisted group companies based on turnover.”
(D) in item (XI), in sub-item (I), for the words “letter of offer”, the words “offer document” shall be substituted;
(E) in item (XII), in sub-item (B), in clause (29), in sub-clause (a), for the words “thirty days” appearing after the words “from the date of the closure” the words “fifteen days” shall be substituted;
(b) in Part C, in para (2),-
(A) brackets and letter “(e)” shall be omitted;
(B) item (f) shall be renumbered as “(e)”;
(c) in Part E, in Para (5), in item (VI), in sub-item (C), in clause (6), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that such participation shall not result in breach of minimum public shareholding requirement stipulated in the equity listing agreement entered into between the issuer and the recognized stock exchanges where the specified securities of the issuer are listed.”
(d) in Part F, for para (2), the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(2) However, if the conditions specified in clause (1) in Part E of this Schedule are satisfied, the disclosure requirements specified in the following clauses in Part D of this Schedule, shall not be applicable to such issuer:
(a) Sub-item (B) of item II ;
(b) Sub-item (D) of item III;
(c) Item V;
(d) Item VI;
(e) Item VII ;
(f) Item X;
(g) Item XI;
(h) Item XIV;
(i) Item XV;
(j) Item XVI.”

In Schedule XI,-
(a) in Part A,-
(A) in para 10, for clause (f), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(f) Anchor Investors shall pay on application the same margin which is payable by other categories of investors the balance, if any, shall be paid within 2 days of the date of closure of the issue.”
(B) in para 11, -
(I) for clause (a), the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(a) The margin collected shall be uniform across all categories of investors.”
(II) clause (b) shall be omitted;
(C) in para 12, after clause (i), the following shall be inserted, namely:-
“(ia) The issuer may decide to close the bidding by qualified institutional buyers one day prior to the closure of the issue subject to the following conditions:
(i) bidding shall be kept open for a minimum of three days for all categories of
applicants;
(ii) disclosures are made in the red herring prospectus regarding the issuer’s
decision to close the bidding by qualified institutional buyers one day prior to closure of issue.”
(b) in Part C, in the heading, for the word “INSTUTIONAL”, the word “INSTITUTIONAL” shall be substituted.

FII Amendment 2010: exemption extended to market making through SME platform under Chapter XA ICDR

In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995 through SEBI (FII) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 vide Notification No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/02/1107 dated 13th April 2010, the following updates were included:
(i) in regulation 15, in sub-regulation (3),-
(a) in clause (a), after second proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided further that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to any transaction in securities by the Foreign Institutional Investor pursuant to an agreement entered into with the merchant banker in the process of market making or subscribing to unsubscribed portion of the issue in accordance with Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.”
(b) in clause (c), after sixth proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided further that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to any transaction in securities by the Foreign Institutional Investor pursuant to an
agreement entered into with merchant banker in the process of market making or subscribing to unsubscribed portion of the issue in accordance with Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.”

No separate certificate of registration for stock & sub brokers to trade in SME platform under Chapter XA of ICDR: Amendment 2010

In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Stock Brokers and Sub-Brokers) Regulations, 1992, through SEBI (Stock Brokers and Sub- Brokers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 vide notification No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/06/1097 dated 13th April 2010, the following updates were inserted:
(i) in regulation 6, the following proviso and Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that, subject to the conditions of regulation 6A, a stock broker holding a certificate of registration with respect to membership of a recognised stock exchange having nationwide trading terminals shall be eligible for trading on SME platform established by such stock exchange without obtaining a separate certificate of registration for trading on the SME platform.
Explanation: For the purpose of this regulation, SME platform means a trading platform of a recognised stock exchange having nationwide trading terminals and permitted by SEBI to list the securities issued in accordance with Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.”
(ii) in regulation 11, the following sub-regulation and Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-
“(3) Subject to the provisions of regulation 12A, no fresh certificate need to be obtained under sub-regulation (1) where a registered sub-broker is affiliated to stock broker who is eligible to trade on SME platform.
Explanation: For the purpose of this regulation, SME platform means a trading platform of a recognised stock exchange having nationwide trading terminals and permitted by the Board to list the securities issued in accordance with Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.”

Regulation 3(1)(f)(vii): Automatic exemption from Reg 10, 11 & 12 for taking up shares in market making extended to Chapter XA of ICDR - Takeover Code Amendment 2010

In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 through SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 vide Notification No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/05/1110 dated 13th April 2010, the following updates were made.

In regulation 3, in sub-regulation (1), in clause (f), after sub-clause (vi), the
following sub-clause shall be inserted, namely: -
“(vii) a merchant banker or nominated investor in the process of market making and subscription by the nominated investor to the unsubscribed portion of issue, in terms of Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009:
Provided that benefit of exception provided in sub-clause (vii) shall not be
available if the acquisition of securities in the process of market making or
subscription to the unsubscribed portion of issue results in change in control
over the target company, directly or indirectly.”

Market Making arrangement by Venture Capital Fund for securities listed on SME exchange: Regulation 12A insertion: VCF Amendment 2010

In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996, through SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 vide Notification No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/07/1100 dated 13th April 2010, the following updates are inserted:

(i) after regulation 12, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“Investment in securities listed on SME exchange.
12A. The venture capital fund may enter into an agreement with merchant banker to subscribe to the unsubscribed portion of the issue or to receive or deliver securities in the process of market making under Chapter XA of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 and the provisions of regulation 12 shall not apply in case of acquisition or sale of securities pursuant to such subscription or market making.”

Understand Mutual Fund amendments 2010: offer period 15 days, refund & MF unit certificate 5 w.days & limits on fees/expenses on schemes

In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, the following amendments were made through SEBI (Mutual Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010 vide Notification No. LAD-NRO/GN/2010-11/13/13945 dated 29th July 2010 with immediate effect.

Regulation 34: Offering Period

No scheme of a mutual fund other than the [initial] offering period of any equity linked savings schemes shall be open for subscription for more than 15 days 45 days.

Regulation 35: Allotment of units & refund of moneys

(3) Any amount refundable under sub-regulation (2) shall be refunded within a period of 5 working days six weeks from the date of closure of subscription list, by Registered post with acknowledgement due and by cheque or demand draft marked “A/c payee” to the applicants.
(4) In the event of failure to refund the amounts within the period specified in subregulation (3), the asset management company shall be liable to pay interest to the applicants at a rate of fifteen per cent per annum from the expiry of 5 working days six weeks from the date of closure of the subscription list.

Regulation 36: Statement of accounts or unit certificates
(1) The asset management company shall issue to the applicant whose application has been accepted, a statement of accounts specifying the number of units allotted to the applicant as soon as possible but not later than 5 working days thirty days from the date of closure of the initial subscription list and/or from the date of receipt of the request from the unitholders in any open ended scheme:
Provided that if an applicant so desires, the asset management company shall issue the unit certificates to the applicant within 5 working days thirty days of the receipt of request for the certificate.

(2) An applicant in a close ended scheme whose application has been accepted shall have the option either to receive the statement of accounts or to hold units in dematerialised form and the asset management company shall issue to such applicant, a statement of accounts specifying the number of units allotted to the applicant or issue units in dematerialized form as soon as possible but not later than 5 working days thirty days from the date of closure of the initial subscription list.

Regulation 52: Limitation on fees and expenses on issue of schemes
(3) For schemes launched on a no load basis, the asset management company shall be entitled to collect an additional management fee not exceeding 1% of the weekly average net assets outstanding in each financial year. [Omitted]

(6) The total expenses of the scheme excluding issue or redemption expenses, whether initially borne by the mutual fund or by the asset management company, but including the investment management and advisory fee shall be subject to the following limits :—
(i) On the first Rs.100 crores of the average weekly net assets 2.5%;
(ii) On the next Rs.300 crores of the average weekly net assets 2.25%;
(iii) On the next Rs.300 crores of the average weekly net assets 2.0%;
(iv) On the balance of the assets 1.75% :
Provided that such recurring expenses shall be lesser by at least 0.25% of the weekly average net assets outstanding in each financial year in respect of a scheme investing in bonds :
Provided further that in case of a fund of funds scheme, the total expenses of the scheme including the management fees shall not exceed 0.75% of the daily or weekly average net assets, depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis.
Provided further that in case of an index fund scheme, the total expenses of the scheme including the investment and advisory fees shall not exceed one and one half percent (1.5%) of the weekly average net assets.

[The total expenses of the scheme excluding issue or redemption expenses, whether initially borne by the mutual fund or by the asset management company, but including the investment management and advisory fee shall be subject to the following limits:—
(a) in case of a fund of funds scheme, the total expenses of the scheme including the management fees shall be either:-
(i) not exceeding 0.75% of the daily or weekly average net assets, depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis; or
(ii) it may consist of -
(A)management fees for the scheme not exceeding 0.75% of the daily or weekly average net assets depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis;
(B) other expenses relating to administration of the scheme;
and
(C) charges levied by the underlying schemes:
Provided that the sum total of (A), (B) and the weighted average of the total expense ratio of the underlying schemes shall not exceed 2.50% of the daily
or weekly average net assets (depending upon whether the NAV of the scheme is calculated on daily or weekly basis) of the scheme.
(b) in case of an index fund scheme or exchange traded fund, the total expenses of the scheme including the investment and advisory fees shall not exceed one and one half percent (1.5%) of the weekly average net assets;
(c) in case of any other scheme-
(i) on the first Rs.100 crores of the daily or average weekly net assets 2.5%;
(ii) on the next Rs.300 crores of the daily or average weekly net assets 2.25%;
(iii) on the next Rs.300 crores of the daily or average weekly net assets 2.0%;
(iv) on the balance of the assets 1.75%:
Provided that in respect of a scheme investing in bonds such recurring expenses shall be lesser by at least 0.25% of the daily or weekly average net assets outstanding in each financial year.”]

 

Tenth Schedule (X): Amortisation of Initial Issue Expenses for close ended schemes

(e) For schemes floated on a ‘no-load’ basis, the asset management company may levy an additional management fee not exceeding 1% of the NAV. The asset management company may be entitled to levy a contingent deferred sales charge for redemption during the first four years after purchase, not exceeding 4% of the redemption proceeds in the first year, 3% in the second year, 2% in the third year and 1% in the fourth year. [Omitted]

Equity Research Report on listed companies available for download: BSE/NSE website links for investors

PR No.161/2010

Independent Equity Research Reports on listed companies made available on Stock Exchange websites

In a meeting of SEBI recognized Investors’ Associations held on February 11, 2010, it was decided that independent equity research coverage on 20 listed companies each, for which research reports were not available hitherto, would be made available by Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) on their websites by July 30, 2010 for the benefit of investors. Accordingly, both the exchanges have since made available on their respective websites, the first set of research reports. Further, exchanges have agreed to jointly frame the criteria for selection of further companies for such research coverage in future.

Website links:

• http://www.nseindia.com/content/corporate/eq_research_reports.htm
• http://www.bseindia.com/sensex/research.aspx

SEBI guidelines on Market Access through Authorised Persons under Stock Brokers regulation as amended on 2010

To expand the reach of the markets for exchange traded products, it has been decided to allow SEBI registered stock brokers (including trading members) of stock exchanges to provide access to clients through authorised
persons.

Regulatory Framework for Market Access through Authorised Persons (MIRSD/ DR-1/ Cir- 16 /09 dated 6th November 2009)
1. Who is an “Authorised Person”?
Any person - individual, partnership firm, LLP or body corporate – who is
appointed as such by a stock broker (including trading member) and who
provides access to trading platform of a stock exchange as an agent of the
stock broker.
2. Appointment of Authorised Person
A stock broker may appoint one or more authorised person(s) after obtaining
specific prior approval from the stock exchange concerned for each such person. The approval as well as the appointment shall be for specific segment of the exchange.
3. Procedure for Appointment
a) Stock broker shall select a person in compliance with the criteria laid down
by the Exchange and this framework for appointment as an authorized
person and forward the application of the person to stock exchange for
approval.
b) On receipt of the aforesaid application, the stock exchange
i. may accord approval on satisfying itself that the person is eligible for
appointment as authorized person, or
ii. may refuse approval on satisfying itself that the person is not eligible for
appointment as authorized person.
4. Eligibility Criteria
4.1 An individual is eligible to be appointed as authorised person if he:
a) is a citizen of India;
b) is not less than 18 years of age;
c) has not been convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty;
d) has good reputation and character;
e) has passed at least 10th standard or equivalent examination from an
institution recognized by the Government; and
f) has the certification, as applicable to approved user / sales personnel of
the respective segment, and undertakes to continue to have valid
certification thereafter. [vide SEBI/Cir/MIRSD/AP/8/2010 dated 23rd July 2010]
(Stock Exchange shall prescribe appropriate certification if no such
certification is prescribed under SEBI Regulations and monitor
compliance.)
4.2 A partnership firm, LLP or a body corporate is eligible to be appointed as
authorized person
a) if all the partners or directors, as the case may be, comply with the
requirements contained in clause 4.1 above.
b) the object clause of the partnership deed or of the Memorandum of
Association contains a clause permitting the person to deal in securities
business.
4.3 The person shall have the necessary infrastructure like adequate office
space, equipment and manpower to effectively discharge the activities on
behalf of the stock broker.

4.4 The approved users and/or sales personnel of Authorised Persons shall have the necessary certification of the respective segments at all points of time. [vide SEBI/Cir/MIRSD/AP/8/2010 dated 23rd July 2010]
5. Conditions of Appointment
The following are the conditions of appointment of an authorised person:
a) The stock broker shall be responsible for all acts of omission and
commission of the authorized person.
b) All acts of omission and commission of the authorized person shall be
deemed to be those of the stock broker.
c) The authorized person shall not receive or pay any money or securities
in its own name or account. All receipts and payments of securities and
funds shall be in the name or account of stock broker.
d) The authorised person shall receive his remuneration - fees, charges,
commission, salary, etc. - for his services only from the stock broker and
he shall not charge any amount from the clients.
e) A person shall not be appointed as authorized person by more than one
stock broker on the same stock exchange.
f) A partner or director of an authorised person shall not be appointed as
an authorised person on the same stock exchange.
g) The stock broker and authorised person shall enter into written
agreement(s) in the form(s) specified by Exchange. The agreement shall
inter-alia cover scope of the activities, responsibilities, confidentiality of
information, commission sharing, termination clause, etc.
6. Withdrawal of Approval
Approval given to an authorised person may be withdrawn by the stock
exchange:
a) on receipt of a request to that effect from the stock broker concerned or
the authorised person, subject to compliance with the requirements
prescribed by the stock exchange, or
b) on being satisfied that the continuation of authorised person is
detrimental to the interest of investors or securities market or the
authorised person at a subsequent date becomes ineligible under clause
4 above.
7. Obligations of Stock Broker
a) The stock broker shall be responsible for all acts of omission and
commission of his authorised person(s) and/or their employees,
including liabilities arising there from.
b) If any trading terminal is provided by the stock broker to an authorised
person, the place where such trading terminal is located shall be treated
as branch office of the stock broker.
c) Stock broker shall display at each branch office additional information
such as particulars of authorised person in charge of that branch, time
lines for dealing through authorised person, etc., as may be specified by
the stock exchange.
d) Stock broker shall notify changes, if any, in the authorised person to all
registered clients of that branch at least thirty days before the change.
e) Stock broker shall conduct periodic inspection of branches assigned to
authorised persons and records of the operations carried out by them.
f) The client shall be registered with stock broker only. The funds and
securities of the clients shall be settled directly between stock broker and
client and all documents like contract note, statement of funds and
securities would be issued to client by stock broker. Authorised person
may provide administrative assistance in procurement of documents and
settlement, but shall not issue any document to client in its own name.
No fund/securities of clients shall go to account of authorized person.
g) On noticing irregularities, if any, in the operations of authorised person,
stock broker shall seek withdrawal of approval, withhold all moneys due
to authorised person till resolution of investor problems, alert investors in
the location where authorised person operates, file a complaint with the
police, and take all measures required to protect the interest of investors
and market.
8. Obligations of Exchange
a) The stock exchange shall maintain a database of all the authorised
persons which shall include the following:
I. PAN Number of authorised person and in case of partnership or body
corporate, PAN Number of all the partners or directors as the case
may be.
II. Details of the broker with whom the authorised person is registered.
III. Locations of branch assigned to authorised person(s).
IV. Number of terminals and their details, given to each authorised person.
V. Withdrawal of approval of authorised person.
VI. Change in status or constitution of authorised person.
VII. Disciplinary action taken by the Exchange against the authorised
person.
All the above details, except I above, shall be made available on web site of
the stock exchange.
b) While conducting the inspection of the stock broker, the stock exchange
shall also conduct inspection of branches where the terminals of
authorised persons are located and records of the operations carried out
by them.
c) Dispute between a client and an authorised person shall be treated as
dispute between the client and the stock broker and the same shall be
redressed by the stock exchange accordingly.
d) In case of withdrawal of approval of authorised person due to
disciplinary action, the stock exchange shall issue a press release and
disseminate the names of such authorised persons on its website citing
the reason for cancellation.

How to find whether your Investors Complaints are received by Mutual Fund - AMFI website link

Disclosure of investor complaints with respect to Mutual Funds
SEBI has received feedback from investors and Investors’ Associations to improve transparency in the ‘grievance redressal mechanism’. Based on the same, transparency in ‘grievance redressal’ is identified as a key area to augment investor protection. It is envisaged that transparency will also improve the general functioning of the market by providing investors the wherewithal to make an informed choice.

Accordingly, it has been decided that Mutual Funds shall henceforth disclose on

• their websites,
• on the AMFI website
• as well as in their Annual Reports,

the details of investor complaints received by them from all sources. The said details should be vetted and signed off by the Trustees of the concerned Mutual Fund.

The format for the aforesaid disclosure is given as Annexure to this Circular Cir / IMD / DF / 2 / 2010 dated 13th May 2010.

AMFI Website Link to view Details of Investors Complaints received by Mutual Fund