The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is preparing the ground for the launch of municipal bonds, a popular debt instrument issued by local governments globally.

Sources said Sebi planned to float a discussion paper on the issuance and trading of municipal bonds, popularly called muni bonds. To ensure this is a viable proposition, the regulator is in talks with the finance ministry to ease the norms on pricing such bonds.

Ahead of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s October 1 deadline for all listed companies to have at least one woman on their boardof directors, more than half the National Stock Exchange (NSE)-listed firms are yet to comply.

Currently, of 1,469 companies listed on NSE, 755 are yet to appoint a woman on their boards.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s move to safeguard small investors in initial public offerings (IPOs) of non-profitable companies is proving a hurdle to greater retail participation. For public issues of companies that didn’t have a three-year ‘profitability’ track record, a change in norms by Sebi in 2012 had lowered the retail investor quota from 35 per cent to 10 per cent of the issue size.

NEW DELHI: The Securities & Exchange Board of India has decided against giving any immediate relief to the government to boost share sales through follow-on public offers (FPOs), even as it has provided some flexibility in offer-for-sale (OFS) on stock exchanges to boost retail investor participation in the disinvestment programme.

Sending a strong signal to those dressing up their illicit money-pooling schemes as 'credit cooperative societies' or other permissible activities, market regulator Sebi has said it is very serious in bringing them to book and is not wary of 'intensive litigations'.

Determined to clamp down on ponzi and other such schemes with enhanced powers, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said that the regulator has come across entities which try to evade its jurisdiction by claiming to be running legal businesses such as credit cooperatives, chit funds and even NBFCs.

In a revamp of risk management in the stock market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has mandated creation of a ‘core’ amount within the existing Settlement Guarantee Fund (SGF) and stress testing to detect risks.

An SGF, set up through levies on brokers, is used in the event of a default to meet settlement obligations.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought fresh clarifications on the proposed Rs 750-crore initial public offer (IPO) of Lavasa Corporation, the realty arm of construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC).

Without disclosing details of clarifications sought, Sebi has said "clarifications (are) awaited from lead manager" for the proposed public issue.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked investors in Sahara's collective investment scheme to apply for their refunds by September 30.

A half-page newspaper advertisement said claims after the deadline would not be entertained.

Saying PACL Ltd ran a collective investment scheme, mobilising about Rs 50,000 crore, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked the company to refund investors and wind up operations.

This is the biggest crackdown on a large-scale illicit money-pooling scheme. At Rs 49,100 crore, the amount concerned is twice that collected by the Sahara group, which is said to have mobilised Rs 24,000 crore.

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is unlikely to relax the newly framed corporate governance norms which come into effect from 1 October, even though listed companies have sought concessions on related-party transactions and the appointment of women directors, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Corporate governance norms for listed firms come under listing agreement norms of Sebi.

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