Sebi plans to complete all enforcement actions within 2 yrs

Critics from several quarters said Sebi takes a long period for passing a final order after the interim direction

To ensure resolution of grievances in a stipulated time-frame, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to complete within two years all its enforcement actions— starting from launch of probe to the passing of final order.

Sebi Chairman U K Sinha Saturday said the regulator would look to reduce the time taken for passing the final orders.

Earlier, it used to take several years to come up with a final judgement and that time has been reduced, he told reporters after the board meeting in New Delhi.

"Nothing will be pending for more than two years," Sebi Chief said adding that this will be implemented starting from the next financial year.

Sebi had earlier set a target of completing all its investigation within one year, which it has been able to meet in majority of the cases. Now it has decided to give itself a target of two years for the entire enforcement action including the investigation period, passing of interim order and then the final order.

The move follows a criticism from several quarters that Sebi takes a long period for passing a final order after the interim direction.

In August 2014, Sebi had fixed one-year target for completion of all its investigations, while sharply focusing on cases involving bigger offences.

At the same time, Sebi had expedited its probe into all long-pending cases and their numbers have been brought down drastically.