Capital market regulator SEBI has reduced the listing of shares in public issue from existing six days to three from the date of issue’s closure, and also tightened the disclosure norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

In a board meeting held on Wednesday, the regulator said the revised timeline will be made applicable in two phases — on voluntary basis till September 1 and mandatory from December 1.

Extensive stress testing has been done to ensure smooth transition to T+3. The shorter listing cycle is expected to benefit issuers in receiving funds and allottees, their securities.

Aimed at curbing the possible circumvention of regulations — such as the requirement for minimum public shareholding — and the possible misuse of the FPI route to circumvent the requirements of Press Note 3, SEBI has mandated additional granular-level disclosures regarding ownership, economic interest and control of FPIs holding over 50 per cent of their Indian equity AUM in a single corporate group.

Additional disclosure also applies to FPIs that individually, or along with their investor group hold over ₹25,000 crore of equity AUM in the Indian markets. This has been done in the aftermath of the allegations made by Hindenburg Research against the Adani group. However, SEBI said the work on the disclosures by FPIs was being planned for a year and half.

However, certain entities such as the government and government-related investors, pension funds and public retail funds, certain listed ETFs, corporate entities and verified pooled investment vehicles meeting certain conditions are exempted from making such additional disclosures.

The board also approved the amendments to allow listed entities having outstanding listed non-convertible debentures (NCDs), as on December 31, 2023, to list their subsequent NCD issuances at the exchange. This new requirement will come into effect from January 1, 2024 and is expected to facilitate transparency in price discovery of non-convertible debt securities and better disclosures.

If an entity with listed debt securities has outstanding unlisted NCDs as on December 31, the entity will have the option to list them, but it would not be mandatory, said SEBI.

The board also approved the proposal for enabling entities having listed debt securities to delist such securities if it gets approval from 100 per cent of the debt security holders. Entities having privately placed, listed debt securities wherein the number of debt security holders is less than 200, shall be eligible to delist their debt securities under this framework, it said.

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