Sebi to review delisting framework to ease exits

India's markets regulator will review its delisting framework ​in an effort ​to ease capital market processes, its chairman said ​at a summit on Friday.

* "A well-developed capital market must provide fair entry and fair exit," chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.

* The ‌Securities and ⁠Exchange ⁠Board of India (SEBI) has rolled out a series of reforms over ​the last few years to make the country's capital markets more ​efficient and attractive to investors, including faster trade settlements and streamlined registration for foreign investors.


* In 2024, the regulator ​permitted the delisting of companies via ⁠a fixed-price ‌route, where shareholders are offered a pre-set ​exit price. ​The mechanism serves as an alternative to ⁠the reverse book-building process, which determines the exit ​price through investor bids.

* The regulator also approved a voluntary delisting framework last year for public sector companies where controlling shareholders owned more than 90%.

* SEBI will also work with other regulators to simplify know-your-customer rules for non-resident Indians, Pandey said.

* Concurrently, ‌the watchdog is reviewing the rules of the Innovators Growth Platform (IGP) for startups to help ​companies better access ​the markets ⁠for long-term capital.

* The platform was introduced in 2016 as the Institutional Trading Platform to help startups raise funds and ​list on stock exchanges, but stringent eligibility and lock-in rules limited interest.

* It was revived as the IGP in 2018, with further relaxations in 2019 and 2021 to encourage listings.