Sebi to probe data leaks via social media, ease IPO norms

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Tuesday came out very strongly against the leaking of price-sensitive information and key financial data of listed companies through social media, before such information is made public. “We are taking it very seriously. How come such messages, about reputed listed companies, are leaked quite close to the financial results? This is something we are not going to sit quietly on,” Tyagi said. According to media reports, the market regulator and the bourses are examining trade details of over two dozen stocks as part of a probe into the leak of key financial details through WhatsApp. Market insiders point to specific messages and senders being already tracked. The Sebi chairman expressed his views on the sensitive information leaks while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a summit hosted by the Association of Investment Bankers of India in Mumbai. Speaking at the event, Tyagi also said that Sebi was planning to make the IPO process simpler. “We are further simplifying procedures and focus on reducing the listing time for IPOs so that primary markets become more efficient. The focus is to further cut down on the time taken for listing a company on an exchange after the IPO to four days from the six days now,” Tyagi said.

Tyagi expressed satisfaction with the performance of the primary market, and pointed out that the amount of funds raised through primary issues this year is more than the previous six years combined. He added that proposals for `86,000-crore worth of IPOs have been filed, of which the regulator has approved issues worth Rs 66,000, while proposals to raise a combined `20,000 crore were still pending.

Stressing on the role of investment bankers in increasing retail participation, Tyagi said advisors should convince issuers to price their offers right. The Sebi chief said out of 32 IPOs, five were undersubscribed by retail investors. On minimum public shareholding, Tyagi said 27 out of 83 state-run companies have still not achieved public shareholding norms. Next Sebi board meeting not to discuss Kotak report: Tyagi

The Sebi board will not take up the Uday Kotak report on corporate governance for discussion in its meeting later this month, Tyagi said. The Kotak committee, which was constituted by Sebi, had suggested a major overhaul of corporate governance norms for listed companies in its report submitted on October 5. Sebi has sought public comments till November 4 on the 177 pages report. “We are not going to take up the Kotak report in the next board meeting,” Tyagi said.