Sebi's Reforms for IPOs and Market Regulations
Encouraging Large Company Listings
- Sebi approved lowering the minimum dilution requirement for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).
- Extended timelines for achieving the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS).
Anchor Investor Framework Changes
- Permitted life insurers and pension funds in the reserved category for anchor allocation along with domestic mutual funds.
- Increased overall reservation for anchor investors from one-third to 40%.
Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) Reforms
- Introduced a single window for onboarding certain FPIs to reduce compliance burden.
- Launched the SWAGAT-FI platform to ease registration of low-risk FPIs.
- Relaxations cover more than 70% of FPIs.
New IPO Norms
- Companies with post-issue market capitalization above ₹5 trillion must offer shares worth ₹15,000 crore.
- Companies with a market capitalization between ₹1 trillion and ₹5 trillion to have MPO of ₹6,250 crore.
- Five-year timeline to reach 15% public shareholding if below at the time of listing.
Real Estate and Infrastructure Trusts
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) reclassified as 'equity' for mutual funds.
- Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) categorized as 'hybrid'.
Mutual Fund Regulations
- Maximum exit load capped at 3%, reduced from 5%.
- Reintroduced incentives for distributors for new inflows from beyond the top 30 cities.
Additional Reforms
- Introduced scale-based thresholds for related party transactions.
- Separate category of AIF schemes for accredited investors.
- Operational relaxations for large-value funds for accredited investors.
These reforms are expected to boost the primary market and ease regulatory compliance for investors and companies, fostering a more investor-friendly environment in India.