Par panel to submit its report on securities bill on Nov 22

Parliament will also study market regulators in the US and European Union to make a case for strengthening Sebi to deal with grave issues like insider trading

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will submit on November 22 its report on Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which seeks to provide more teeth to market regulator SEBI.

"The Committee has completed deliberations on Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and will soon start writing report on it which would be submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker on November 22," a source said.

According to him, the members of the Parliamentary panel today heard views of industry chambers representatives from FICCI and CII, company secretaries and a consumer organisation Voice of India on the draft legislation.

The source said that the panel would also study market regulators in the US and European Union to make a case for strengthening Sebi to deal with grave issues like insider trading.

During the earlier discussions of the panel, it favoured prompt payment of compensation to investors in cases of fraud.

Participating in a discussion on the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have suggested that small investors should be paid their dues within a specific time frame after Sebi seizes funds in such fraud cases, sources said.

The members, according to sources, have questioned the decision of the government to provide more powers to the SEBI.

"Is the search and seizure powers vested with SEBI in the present legal framework inadequate?", a member had questioned during the meeting earlier last month.

The final report on the bill, sources said, was likely to be tabled in the Parliament in forthcoming winter session beginning next month.

The Bill seeks to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, with consequential changes in the Securities Contracts Regulation Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996.

Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) are a class of investment products regulated by SEBI. The Bill widens the definition to include all pooling of funds of Rs 100 crore or above, that are not regulated by any law.

The Bill empowers the Chairman of SEBI to authorise search and seizure of documents relevant to an investigation.

The Bill provides SEBI with explicit powers to order disgorgement of unfair gains. It also permits SEBI to attach bank accounts and property, and arrest and detain a person for his failure to comply with disgorgement orders or pay any monetary penalty. It also seeks to establish special courts to try offences under the Act.