Skip to main content

Sebi mulls delisting firms suspended for over 5 years

BSE proposes to market regulator the counters be dropped off; NSE also in talks

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering delisting companies suspended on exchanges for more than five years, a source said.

In a representation to Sebi recently, the BSE ( formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) proposed counters that had been suspended for seven years be delisted. The National Stock Exchange ( NSE), which has close to 170 suspended companies, is also in talks with Sebi.

“Sebi has received the BSE’s proposal and is favourably considering it,” said a source. An email to Sebi did not get a response. “ We have made a representation to the regulator,” said an NSE spokesperson. “A suspended company that does not intend to remain listed cannot go through the reverse book- building exercise for delisting. There is a need for them to be exempted,” said asource. A merchant banker said Sebi had informally started allowing suspended companies to delist. “ If I approach Sebi with a proposal for automatic delisting of a suspended company, I will not find it averse to the idea, provided the interests of shareholders are protected,” said the banker.

Before allowing delisting of the suspended companies, Sebi will ensure the counters are moved to the dissemination board so investors can receive their dues by connecting with parties to buy or sell their shares. A dissemination board is a facility hosted by exchanges for bilateral settlement in counters that are no longer listed.

The BSE said it had proposed to delist the suspended companies from the exchange and transfer them to the dissemination board. Sources said the BSE proposal contained a list of 1,000 companies that had been suspended for seven years.

The BSE also provided an analysis of companies suspended for penal reasons. A total of 150 companies have been suspended for less than two years, 70 others have remained suspended for three to six years. “ The BSE has proposed such companies be granted a specific period to complete formalities for resumption of trading,” said a BSE spokesperson. If that does not work, the exchange will follow it up by moving the counters to the dissemination board. “A number of companies suspended by the exchange in the last decade have not initiated revocation formalities.

Their shareholders are deprived of an exit route,” said the BSE spokesperson.

“Firms wanting to exit find the listing compliance mechanism cumbersome. A seamless delisting mechanism will protect interests of investors,” said Mahavir Lunavat of Pantomath Advisory Services Group.


Business Standard, New Delhi, 27 August 2015

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RBI deputy governor cautions fintech platform lenders on privacy concerns during loan recovery

  India's digital lending infrastructure has made the loan sanctioning system online. Yet, loan recovery still needs a “feet on the street” approach, Swaminathan J, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, said at a media event on Tuesday, September 2, according to news agency ANI.According to the ANI report, the deputy governor flagged that fintech operators in the digital lending segment are giving out loans to customers with poor credit profiles and later using aggressive recovery tactics.“While loan sanctioning and disbursement have become increasingly digital, effective collection and recovery still require a 'feet on the street' and empathetic approach. Many fintech platforms operate on a business model that involves extending small-value loans to customers often with poor credit profiles,” Swaminathan J said.   Fintech platforms' business models The central bank deputy governor highlighted that many fintech platforms' business models involve providing sm

Credit card spending growth declines on RBI gaze, stress build-up

  Credit card spends have further slowed down to 16.6 per cent in the current financial year (FY25), following the Reserve Bank of India’s tightening of unsecured lending norms and rising delinquencies, and increased stress in the portfolio.Typically, during the festival season (September–December), credit card spends peak as several credit card-issuing banks offer discounts and cashbacks on e-commerce and other platforms. This is a reversal of trend in the past three financial years stretching to FY21 due to RBI’s restrictions.In the previous financial year (FY24), credit card spends rose by 27.8 per cent, but were low compared to FY23 which surged by 47.5 per cent. In FY22, the spending increased 54.1 per cent, according to data compiled by Macquarie Research.ICICI Bank recorded 4.4 per cent gross credit losses in its FY24 credit card portfolio as against 3.2 per cent year-on-year. SBI Cards’ credit losses in the segment stood at 7.4 per cent in FY24 and 6.2 per cent in FY23, the rep

India can't rely on wealthy to drive growth: Ex-RBI Dy Guv Viral Acharya

  India can’t rely on wealthy individuals to drive growth and expect the overall economy to improve, Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday.Acharya, who is the C V Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern), said after the Covid-19 pandemic, rural consumption and investments have weakened.We can’t be pumping our growth through the rich and expect that the economy as a whole will do better,” he said while speaking at an event organised by Elara Capital here.f there has to be a trickle-down, it should have actually happened by now,” Acharya said, adding that when the rich keep getting wealthier and wealthier, they have a savings problem.   “The bank account keeps getting bigger, hence they look for financial assets to invest in. India is closed, so our money can't go outside India that easily. So, it has to chase the limited financial assets in the country and