Cracking the whip: Why Sebi is tightening rules for public issues of SMEs

SME IPO is a red-hot market segment. Many of these floats routinely see 100-time subscription and massive gains upon listing

On December 2, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) cancelled the initial public offer of Trafiksol ITS Technologies, a company that falls in the category of an SME — a small and medium enterprise. The stock market regulator asked it to refund money to investors.

  This is one of several SME IPOs to run into trouble with the regulator in the recent past. Trafiksol ITS is a Noida-based company which provides intelligent transportation systems and automation solutions for traffic and toll management. It filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus on May 31, 2024 for an IPO to be