SBI Cards IPO: New guidelines likely to restrict multiple FPI bids

The 2019 operating guidelines for FPIs also prescribe a separate registration for proprietary derivative investments and ODI activities of an FPI

A section of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) may not be able to place multiple applications in the initial public offering (IPO) of SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Cards).

The offering, the fourth-largest in the domestic market, is expected to generate high interest from institutional investors, given that it is the first credit card company to go public.

The 2019 operational guidelines for FPIs allow multiple bids to be submitted in an IPO but only under the multiple investment managers (MIM) structure with the same permanent account number (PAN) and different beneficiary account numbers, client IDs, and depository participant IDs.