Sebi gets tough on firms with non-demat shares

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has said that shares of companies in which at least 50 per cent non-promoter holding is not in the demat form will be included in the trade-for-trade (TFT) segment. It said the norm would be implemented from October 31.

For stocks in the TFT segment, only delivery-based trading is allowed. Further, stocks of companies listed as a result of any restructuring would be included in the TFT segment for the first 10 days even as circuit filters would be kept open on the first day.

This will also be done in cases where suspension of trading is being revoked after more than one year or if shares are being admitted for trading from another exchange. The norms, however, will not apply to companies wherein the original entity is available in the derivatives segment or is part of any index on which derivatives products are available.

The regulator has also asked stock exchanges to ensure compliance of disclosure requirements and dissemination of the same by companies before approval for trading is granted.