The minimum public shareholding in listed companies should be 25 per cent irrespective of ownership, private or PSU, said UK Sinha, Chairman, SEBI, at the CII capital market conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“We are talking to the Government on this. SEBI regulations should be neutral to ownership,” he said.

SEBI plans to correct the anomaly on the issue size of IPOs.

Sinha said the requirement that companies with net worth of up to Rs 4,000 crore offer 25 per cent of equity and those above Rs 4,000 cr offer 10 per cent of equity creates an anomaly in borderline cases (those companies whose net worth is close to the Rs 4,000-crore mark).

“There have been suggestions favouring an increase in the qualified institutional buyers’ portion in public offerings and a reduction in the retail portion. SEBI is not in favour of this suggestion,” said Sinha.

As suggested by market participants, SEBI is considering the anchor investor quota within the QIB in a public offering. The regulator stressed that India Inc would be better served if the recent corporate governance norms are implemented in letter and spirit.

SEBI is also working towards correcting discrepancies in its ESOP guidelines and implementing an IT system that will ensure that repetitive filing of the same information is avoided.

SEBI has also set up a core group to review the annual information memorandum filed by companies. The group has been given three months to suggest changes and make life easier for corporates.

SEBI has spoken to the Government on giving pass-through status to real estate investment trusts, besides providing tax breaks.

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