Madhabi Puri Buch, the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), said on Thursday that the regulator will continue to probe the Sahara matter even after the death of the group’s founder, Subrata Roy.

Group founder Roy died this week after a prolonged illness.

Buch said the regulator’s actions were dependent on the directions of the SC-appointed committee and refunds were being doled out to those who came forward with proof of investment.

SEBI’s 2022-23 annual report said that it had issued Rs ₹138 crore in refunds over 11 years to investors of two Sahara Group firms.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event, Buch said SEBI was in the process of back-testing data for formulating regulations on the total expense ratio for mutual funds.

“Because many of the funds are listed, in the first round of discussion, we couldn’t co-create the regulations with the industry. Multiple rounds of back-testing and consultations are underway again,” said Buch.

Delisting plans

She said SEBI was looking to ease norms for delisting and trading plans, and the same may be taken up in the next board meeting or the one after that.

In its consultation paper in August, SEBI had proposed to allow firms to make delisting offers at fixed prices and allow acquirers to make counter offers at lower thresholds. Present norms mandate all delisting offers to go through a reverse book-building mechanism.

A company insider wanting to buy or sell shares of the company is required to submit a trading plan to the company’s board six months in advance and stick to the plan no matter what.

The regulator had improved its rate of processing applications for different market participants and reduced the registration pendency of registration in the last few months.

The number of consultation papers released by SEBI has increased from 66 between CY13 and CY15 to 97 between CY16 and CY19 to 160 between CY20 and CY22.

Buch said that 43 per cent of the consultation papers released between September 2022 and August 2023 were related to ease of doing business or were developmental in nature. What’s more, master circulars had rendered many circulars redundant.

Buch said the percentage of consultation papers to the total circulars issued by SEBI was seven per cent between 2003 and 2013. Over the next nine years, it increased to 17 per cent, and it reached 33 per cent over the last year.

Buch said the regulator remained committed to relying on data to formulate regulations even if it led to delays in bringing out a particular regulation. “We have stepped up the level of consultation because the market today is very complex,” said Buch.

Buch cited examples like the Industry Standards for implementing regulations, which reflects a collaborative approach between regulators and market participants. She alluded to the Industry Standards Forum becoming a formal part of the regulatory architecture.

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