Sebi's Kolkata jurisdiction extended to include Sikkim, Andaman

Companies based in Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar can now file the offer documents for public issues of up to Rs 500 crore at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s eastern regional office in Kolkata, the market regulator said on Wednesday.

The decision follows a Sebi direction in May, wherein the regulator had allowed companies to file their offer documents at one of its four regional offices for public issues of up to Rs 500 crore, depending on the place where the issuer has its registered office. For offer sizes higher than Rs 500 crore, the documents need to be filed at the Sebi’s main office in Mumbai.

As per a May 3 circular from Sebi, companies based in Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, West Bengal, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Jharkhand can file the offer documents for issues of up to Rs 500 crore at the Kolkata office. In the circular issued on Wednesday, Sebi has added Sikkim and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands under the jurisdiction of its Eastern Regional Office.

This amendment will come into effect for all draft offer documents for issues that are filed with Sebi on or after August 27, the regulator said.

Earlier in October 2010, Sebi had increased the threshold limit from Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore for offer documents to be filed with its regional offices. The cap was further raised from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore in May this year. PTI