SEBI Eases Rules For Listing of Startups:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed a slew of changes for the start-up listing platform to make it attractive for new-age companies to consider going public in local markets.
The regulator said, based on the feedback received from market participants, it has decided to not just relax rules further but also rename the institutional trading platform as ‘High-tech Start-up & Other New Business Platform’.
It has proposed to do away with the rule which says no single shareholder shall own more than 25 per cent after listing, which a lot of promoters were not comfortable with, and has increased the allocation of shares more for high net worth individuals (HNIs) and corporates.
Earlier, only 25 per cent was reserved for HNIs and corporates. it has also hiked the limit on share allotment to individual institutional investors to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.
The regulator has also proposed to allow market making compulsory for a minimum period of three years for initial public offerings of less than Rs 100 crore. At present, there is no provision mandating market making.
Under the current rules, start-ups can list on the separate institutional trading platform of stock exchanges. However, this platform has failed to attract a single start-up for listing so far. Last year, to attract start-ups to list in India, Sebi had eased the rules.
The regulator has also proposed lock-in for pre-issue shares held by venture capitalists and employees under the ESOP scheme for six months following the initial public offering. It has also proposed to lower minimum trading lot to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.
Sebi has sought public comments on these proposed changes before August 14, 2016.