Williamson Magor settles case with Sebi

Williamson Magor & Company has settled its case with market regulator Sebi after paying Rs 4.42 lakh under consent mechanism.
The company had allegedly violated SAST (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) regulations and Prohibition of Insider trading (PIT) norms.
The violation was alleged with respect to the company's increase in shareholding from 3.11 per cent to 6.07 per cent in McNally Bharat Engineering Company.
Williamson Magor sought settlement of any action that may be initiated by Sebi against it for the alleged violations.
After considering all factors, the High Powered Advisory Committee, in October 2015, recommended that the case may be settled on payment of Rs 4,42,500 towards settlement as was proposed by the company.

The Panel of Whole Time Members of Sebi had accepted the said recommendations of HPAC and the same was communicated to the applicant this month, according to a recent Sebi order.

Besides, it is proposed to reduce the mandatory sponsor
holding in InvIT to 10 per cent of the total units of such units on a post-issue basis for a period of three years, from the current requirement of 25 per cent.
The current requirement may limit monetisation for sponsors and reduce release of capital for them. Further, in certain circumstances, it may lead to sponsors putting money out of their own pocket in the InvIT to maintain the required 25 per cent stake.

Regarding startups, Sebi plans changes to the framework of Institutional Trading Platform (ITP), which has not seen much traction even though it was put in place in August 2015. Not a single startup has been listed on this platform till date.
The valuation concern has also discouraged startups for listing on the platform.
The rules were brought in to encourage Indian startups and entrepreneurs to remain within the country rather than go overseas for raising funds.
Sebi would consider an easier framework that allows more investor categories, relaxed shareholding norms and reduced trading lot amount.