New IPO norms in a few months, says Sebi chief

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today said it will come out with new norms for initial public offer (IPO) in the next few months as the capital market regulator aims at ensuring minimum price volatility on the day of listing.

"May be in next few months," Sebi Chairman UK Sinha told reporters when asked about timeline for the new IPO norms.

He was here to address the convocation of Management Development Institute.

The Sebi is in the process of reforming the IPO norms to ensure minimum price volatility on the day of listing.

In the past, it has barred several companies from raising money from the public for suspected misuse of proceeds from IPOs, pricing irregularities and inadequate disclosure of information.

Addressing the board and executive directors of Sebi on Saturday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked Sebi to diligently protect the interest of retail investors.

Replying to another query on the proposed General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) provisions, Sinha said the government "is going to have a new look at tax avoidance, so they they are going to work in that way".

In his budget for 2012-13, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the government wants to introduce GAAR in order to "counter aggressive tax avoidance schemes, while ensuring that it is used only in appropriate cases, by enabling a review by a GAAR panel".