SEBI unveils ownership and governance norms for Stock Exchanges

22 Jun 2012 Evaluate

In an attempt to pave way for setting up of new bourses and also to permit the exchanges to get listed on other bourses, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India’s capital market regulator, has unveiled new norms for ownership and governance of stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions. The fresh rules mandates every recognized stock exchange to have a minimum networth of Rs 100 crore at all times and at least 51 percent of stake has to be held by public.

As per the new norms, while, no Indian entity, either individually or together with persons acting in concert, would be allowed to acquire or hold more than 5 percent stake directly or indirectly in a stock exchange, however stock exchanges, depositories, banks, insurance companies and public financial institutions from India are allowed to acquire or hold up to 15 percent stake. With regards to non Indian entities, the SEBI notification underscores that individual shareholding would be capped at 5 percent for all non-Indian entities without any exemptions, and their collective holding cannot exceed 49 percent.

Moreover, of this 49 percent stake, the holding through foreign direct investment (FDI) route would be capped at 26 percent and that through foreign institutional investments (FII) will be at 23 percent. The new rules further restrict FIIs to acquire shares of a recognized stock exchange otherwise than through secondary market. For a stock exchange that is not listed, an FII may acquire shares through transactions outside of a recognized stock exchange provided it is not an initial allotment of shares; and for listed bourses, the FIIs can transact through the exchange where the shares are listed.

At a time when there are only two national level bourses viz. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) which operate in the country, the new norms are expected to pave the way for setting up many such new stock exchanges. With regards to MCX-SX, which is currently permitted only in the currency segment, the exchange is awaiting SEBI’s consent to begin trade in the equity segment.

In a recent development, SEBI has made up its mind to prescribe minimum listing standards for companies in the wake of losses to equity investors due to the poor quality of initial public offerings (IPOs) and increasing number of companies being suspended from stock exchanges. The market regulator is mulling over setting up a committee of experts to assess the feasibility of a single clearing corporation (CC) or allow inter-operability among multiple CCs.

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