SEBI board to meet on Feb 10; Jaitley to brief members on budget proposals
The board is likely to deliberate upon suggestion to mandate listed companies to meet at least 1/4th of their funding needs through bonds.
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board is likely to discuss on February 10 various budget proposals related to the securities market and Uday Kotak panel recommendations on corporate governance, among other issues, a senior official said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would be addressing the market regulator's board as part of customary practice after presentation of Union Budget.
Jaitley would also address the RBI board on the same day.
The SEBI board meeting, first after presentation of the Union Budget for 2018-19, on February 10 would discuss various budget proposals as well as other issues, the official said.
Jaitley would brief the board about budget proposals.
Among the various budget proposals pertaining to securities market, the board is expected to deliberate upon the suggestion to mandate listed companies to meet at least one-fourth of their funding needs through bonds.
According to the official, the regulator would look at asking 100 most valued companies in terms of market capitalisation to meet certain portion of their funding requirement by way of bonds.
"SEBI will also consider mandating, beginning with large corporates, to meet about one-fourth of their financing needs from the bond market," Jaitley had said in his budget speech.
The Finance Bill 2018 has also proposed amendments to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and Depositories Act.
As per one of the proposals, an investment adviser or a research analyst would be liable for a fine of up to Rs 1 crore in case of violating the regulations.
Similar provisions have been proposed for violations by persons in respect of alternative investment funds, infrastructure investment trusts and real estate investment trusts.
Besides, the government has proposed a fine ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 25 crore for stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories that fail to carry out their business in accordance with regulations.
The amount could also be "three times the amount of gains made out of such failure, whichever is higher".
According to the senior official, recommendations of the Uday Kotak panel on corporate governance practices at listed companies are also likely to be taken up.
The panel has recommended limiting chairmanship to non-executive directors, appointing at least one woman as independent director and increasing the number of board meetings to five in a year.