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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be addressing the first board meeting of capital market regulator SEBI on February 10 in Delhi to discuss various Budget-related issues and their implementation.
Discussion with regard to monetising of various infrastructure projects, infrastructure investment trust, divestment of public sector companies and effective implementation of long-term capital gains tax are among the issues that are likely to be discussed in the meeting, sources told BusinessLine .
Market reaction in the coming days could shape up the real agenda of the board meeting. Sensex fell 900 points on Friday, just a day after the Budget and bond yields too spiked to 22-month high. The Finance Minister will be closely watching stock market movement in the coming days in the wake of a global bond market rout that has pushed equity markets too in a tailspin. Key equity indices in the US fell between 1.6 and 2.5 per cent on Friday, making it the largest stock market fall since the 2016 Brexit vote.
The government has a keen interest in monetising some of the road projects and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITS) could prove to be among the effective ways to do so. SEBI has put in place operational modalities required for the participation by the strategic investors in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and InvITs but the so-called new vehicles of fund-raising by the government may require more regulatory push.
To address RBI board too
It is a customary practice of the Finance Minister to address SEBI board post announcement of the Budget. Jaitley would also address the RBI board the same day.
Among the Budget proposals with regard to capital markets, the SEBI board is expected to deliberate upon the suggestion to mandate listed companies to meet at least one-fourth of their funding needs through bonds. The Finance Bill 2018 has also proposed amendments to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and Depositories Act. According to one of the proposals, an investment adviser or a research analyst would be liable for a fine of up to ₹1 crore in case of violating the regulations.
Besides, the government has proposed a fine ranging from ₹5-25 crore for stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories that fail to carry out their business in accordance with regulations.
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