Sebi to cut IPO listing time to 4 days

Last year in Nov, the market regulator had shortened IPO listing time to six days from 12 days

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman U K Sinha on Tuesday said the regulator would reduce the timeline for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to four days from six days now.

“Our team is working towards reducing the listing-gap to meet with the global standards. We have been able to bring down the issue timing from T+12 to T+6 days and all of us have to start working now about how to further reduce the issue timing,” Sinha said at a conference on capital markets here on Tuesday. ‘T’ in this case denotes the last day of the IPO.

In November, Sebi shortened IPO listing time to six days from 12 days. In 2010, the time between the closing of an IPO and listing was 22 days.

Sinha also expressed the need of strengthening corporate governance norms. He said the regulator has asked corporates to comply with women director requirement under the Companies Act. “Most of corporate India has happily introduced it. I would exert those who have not done to do so as early as possible.”

Sebi also wants to tighten its own in-house corporate governance and accountability and is said to have written to the finance ministry for appointing a women director on the Sebi board.

“We have already taken up with the government that we must have at least one woman member on the Sebi board although there is no such legal requirement. The Sebi Act does not prescribe it but as a good measure, we have asked the government to do it,” he added.

It has also decided that its non-executive directors should evaluate the performance of the Sebi board. “We have voluntarily decided that all the non-executive members of Sebi board will meet separately and will have access to any senior executives to get data or information and can evaluate regulator performance,” he added.

Further, Sinha said there is a need to clean up ‘historical baggage’ which has been there in the form of de-listed companies suspended for many years. Sinha said the regulator has given the exit option to such companies and those who are not adhering to the rules will face serious consequences.