Sebi restructures Primary Market Advisory Committee

The capital market regulator has got new members for the Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has replaced 11 of the existing members in PMAC, a source in the committee said on Wednesday.

The 18-member PMAC is significant, as it advises Sebi on policy framework related to the primary markets. Currently, high grey-market activity and manipulation in share prices are the key issues, keeping retail investors away from investing in initial public offers (IPOs). Nearly 70 per cent of the IPOs in 2009-2010 were trading below their issue prices within a few months of their listing.

Sources say that even other panels like the secondary market advisory committee may also be restructured.

The new members who have joined PMAC include Prime Database head Prithvi Haldea, BSE Deputy Chief Executive officer Ashish Chauhan, IIM-Lucknow faculty Manoj Anand, Morgan Stanley India chief executive officer P J Nayak, Ministry of Finance director (primary markets) Ramesh Krishnamurthi, Bhopal Stock Exchange director Santosh Agarwal, Crawford Bayley partner Sanjay Asher, Merchant Banking Association chairman Sanjay Sharma and Sidbi chairman and managing director Sushil Muhnot. Among the new members, Chauhan would be representing the stock exchanges.

The chairman of the PMAC was C Achuthan, a former presiding officer of SAT, who passed away recently after a heart attack. The committee will have a new chairman, chosen from among Enam Securities chairman Vallabh Bhansali, Kotak Mahindra Bank vice-chairman and MD Uday S Kotak and Crisil managing director Rupa Kudwa. All of them are old members of the Sebi committee. Earlier, the committee was headed by HDFC Bank chairman Deepak Parekh.