Why do we need a regulatory body for Investor protection in India?

India is an ` informationally ' weak market Boosting capital market demands restoring the confidence of lay investors who have been beaten down by repeated scams Progressively softening interest rates and an under performing economy have eroded investment options, and required enchanced investment skills. Mission of SEBI Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) formed under the SEBI Act, 1992 with the prime objective of Protecting the interests of investors in securities, Promoting the development of, and Regulating, the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Focus being the greater investor protection, SEBI has become a vigilant watchdog

FUNCTIONS OF SEBI Section 11 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act. Regulation Of Business In The Stock Exchanges A review of the market operations, organizational structure and administrative control of the exchange All stock exchanges are required to be Body Corporates The exchange provides a fair, equitable and growing market to investors.

The exchanges organisation, systems and practices are in accordance with the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act (SC(R) Act), 1956

B) Registration And Regulation Of The Working Of Intermediaries Digram is dere

C) Registration And Regulation Of Mutual Funds, Venture Schemes

Capital Funds & Collective Investment

AMFI-Self Regulatory Organization-'promoting and protecting the interest of mutual funds and their unit-holders, increasing public awareness of mutual funds, and serving the investors' interest by defining and maintaining high ethical and professional standards in the mutual funds industry'. Every mutual fund must be registered with SEBI and registration is granted only where SEBI is satisfied with the background of the fund. SEBI has the authority to inspect the books of accounts, records and documents of a mutual fund, its trustees, AMC and custodian where it deems it necessary

SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 lays down the provisions for the appointment of the trustees and their obligations Every new scheme launched by a mutual fund needs to be filed with SEBI and SEBI reviews the document in regard to the disclosures contained in such documents.

 Regulations have been laid down regarding listing of funds, refund procedures, transfer procedures, disclosures, guaranteeing returns etc SEBI has also laid down advertisement code to be followed by a mutual fund in making any publicity regarding a scheme and its performance SEBI has prescribed norms / restrictions for investment management with a view to minimize / reduce undue investment risks. SEBI also has the authority to initiate penal actions against an erring MF. In case of a change in the controlling interest of an asset management company, investors should be given at least 30 days time to exercise their exit option.

D) Promoting & Regulating Self Regulatory Organizations In order for the SRO to effectively execute its responsibilities, it would be required to be structured, organized, managed and controlled such that it retains its independence, while continuing to perform a genuine market development role The Securities Market

E) Prohibiting Fraudulent And Unfair Trade Practices In

SEBI is vested with powers to take action against these practices relating to securities market manipulation F] Prohibition Of Insider Trading Stock Watch System, which has been put in place, surveillance over insider trading would be further strengthened.

G] Investor Education And The Training Of Intermediaries SEBI distributed the booklet titled A Quick Reference Guide for Investors to the investors SEBI also issued a series of advertisement /public notices in national as well as regional newspapers to educate and caution the investors about the risks associated with the investments in collective investment schemes SEBI has also issued messages in the interest of investors on National Channel and Regional Stations on Doordarshan. H) I) Inspection And Inquiries Regulating Substantial Acquisition Of Shares And Take-overs

J) Performing Such Functions And Exercising Such Powers Under The Provisions Of The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 As May Be Delegated To It By The Central Government; K) L) Levying Fees Or Other Charges For Carrying Out The Purposes Of This Section Conducting Research For The A

VETTING BY SEBI A company cannot come out with public issue unless Draft Prospectus is filed with SEBI. Prospectus is a document by way of which the investor gets all the information pertaining to the company in which they are going to invest. It gives the detailed information about the Company, Promoter / Directors, group companies, Capital Structure, Terms of the present issue etc. A company cannot file prospectus directly with SEBI. It has to be filed through a merchant banker. After the preparation of prospectus, the merchant banker along with the due diligence certificates and other compliances and sends the same to SEBI for Vetting. SEBI on receiving the same scrutinizes it and may suggest changes within 21 days of receipt of prospectus The company can come out with a public issue any time within 180 days from the date of the letter from SEBI or if no letter is received from SEBI, within 180 days from the date of expiry of 21 days of submission of prospectus with SEBI If the issue size is upto Rs. 20 crores then the merchant bankers are required to file prospectus with the regional office of SEBI falling under the jurisdiction in which registered office of the company is situated. If the issue size is more than Rs. 20 crores, merchant bankers are required to file prospectus at SEBI, Mumbai office. Brokers Code The four-part model, which was recommended by the M R Mayya committee The market regulator would hold the remote control on the management of the exchanges by approving nominations of 60 per cent non-broker members of an exchange board. Induction and removal of managing director would also be controlled by SEBI. Lead to increased control by the markets regulator and also impose restrictions on elected brokers without giving them any authority.

Search And Seizure

To impose penalties of up to Rs 25 crore or three times the amount involved in the violation of a norm, whichever is higher. In the cases of some offences, including defaults by brokers, a failure to furnish returns and information by corporates and brokers and other lapses, the market regulator can impose a higher penalty of Rs 1 lakhs a day or a maximum fine of Rs 1 crore, whichever is lower. At present, the offences carry penalties ranging between Rs 5,000 and Rs 5 lakhs. Corporate Governance The listing requirements, are ensured in two ways. Corporates are expected to submit compliance reports as per clause 49 of the listing agreement They are also required to provide details of the same in their annual reports.

Delisting The exit price to be determined in accordance with the book building process (known as reverse book building) through an electronically-linked transparent facility. The offer price shall have a floor price, which will be the average of 26 weeks traded price preceding the date of the public announcement. The final offer price shall be determined as the price at which maximum number of shares has been offered.

After the final price is determined based on the book-building process, the promoter or the acquirer will have to make a public announcement of the final price and communicate to the exchanges from which the delisting is sought to be made within two working days. Further, the number of bidding centres shall not be less than 30, including all the stock exchange centres, which should have at least one electronically-linked computer terminal each.

In case the promoter does not accept the above price, he should not make an application to the exchange for delisting of the securities, as per the guidelines. Instead, he shall ensure that

the public shareholding is brought up to the minimum limits specified under the listing conditions within six months. Strict norms for compulsory delisting by stock exchanges Public Issues An unlisted company has to satisfy the following criteria to be eligible to make a public issue Pre-issue networth of the co. should not be less than Rs.1 crore in last 3 out of last 5 years with minimum networth to be met during immediately preceding 2 years Track record of distributable profits for at least three (3) out of immediately preceding five (5) years The issue size (i.e. offer through offer document + firm allotment + promoters contribution through the offer document) shall not exceed five (5) times its pre-issue networth. In case an unlisted company does not satisfy any of the above criterions, it can come out with a public issue only through the Book-Building process. In the Book Building process the company has to compulsorily allot at least sixty percent (50%) of the issue size to the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), failing whic Initial Public Offer In case of an Initial Public Offer (IPO) i.e. public issue by unlisted company, the promoters have to necessarily offer at least 20% of the post issue capital. In case of public issues by listed companies, the promoters shall participate either to the extent of 20% of the proposed issue or ensure post-issue share holding to the extent of 20% of the post-issue capital. In case of any issue of capital to the public the minimum contribution of promoters shall be locked in for a period of 3 years, both for an IPO and Public Issue by listed companies. In case of an IPO, if the promoters contribution in the proposed issue exceeds the required minimum contribution, such excess contribution shall also be locked in for a period of one year. In case of a public issue by a listed company, participation by promoters in the proposed public issue in excess of the required minimum percentage shall also be locked-in for a period of one year as per the lock-in provisions as specified in Guidelines on Preferential issue. paid up share capital prior to IPO and shares issued on a firm allotment basis along with issue shall be locked-in for a period of one year from the date of allotment in public issue.

 In case of over-subscription in a fixed price issue the allotment is done in marketable lots, on a proportionate basis In case of a book building issue, allotment to Qualified Institutional Buyers and NonInstitutional buyers are done on a discretionary basis. Allotment to retail investors is done on a proportionate basis all steps for completion of the necessary formalities for listing and commencement of trading at all stock exchanges where the securities are to be listed are taken within 7 working days of finalization of basis of allotment. RECOMMENDATIONS ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE If an institution wishes to appoint a director on the board of a company, it should be approved by the shareholders of the company. Such a person is not to be considered an independent director. An institutional director, so appointed, shall have the same responsibilities and shall be subject to the same liabilities as any other director. companies should lay down a code of conduct for all the board members and the senior management of company. Mandatory review by audit committees of listed companies Companies raising money through a public issue should disclose to the audit committee, the uses and applications of funds by major category on a quarterly basis. Evaluation Of SEBI s Performance Enhancing disclosures In most case only the minimum information required under the Companies Act is made available The manner in which the swap ratio is fixed and what the management thinks of the same is largely taken for granted. valuation reports are made available for inspection, but access is not easy for all investors. Inability To Utilize The Existing Powers Effectively SEBI could initiate prosecution proceedings on insider trading only in one case and seven cases on fraudulent and unfair practices. Only in seven of the 181 cases, SEBI resorted to cancellation of registration during the last four years.

 Though SEBI has the power to impose a penalty of Rs 1.50 lakhs every time a person fails to furnish the requisite information, but rarely has this power has been exercised by it . The provision for mandatory punishment of imprisonment in addition to award for penalty has scarcely has been used. Quality Of Decisions

What is worrying is the poor rate of conviction in major cases. Virtually every SEBI decision involving major cases such as Sterlite, BPL, Videocon, Anand Rathi and Associates and Hindustan Lever has been overturned by the appeals process (or the Securities Appellate Tribunal). Accounting, audit quality The plethora of inter-corporate investments, intra-company and intra-group transactions, guarantees and contingent liabilities are areas where there is room for considerable concern. Price Manipulation No Dent Price manipulation, informed trading and insider trading with key operators/investors is now routine. This is an area that is difficult to tackle for any regulator. But over the last ten years, SEBI has taken action on such price manipulation in just two cases (Bayer ABS and Amara Raja Batteries). Here, too, the penal action has hardly been stringent Enticing ads and investor risk Advertisement sans indication of performance by mutual funds has continued regardless of the SEBI guidelines on this. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is being blamed for lack of alertness and poor risk-management measures with regard to the automated lending and borrowing mechanism.

Change In Market

The complete transformation of the trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure Dramatic transformation to a paperless market and transparent trading system. All trades on the National Stock Exchange are settled in demat (paperless mode). By also moving towards rolling settlement (albeit after a considerable and unnecessary delay), cutting the settlement cycle and now going forward towards a T+1 settlement system, SEBI has made the markets much safer for

Takeover Code Failures The creeping acquisition limit will be applicable for the financial year, against the earlier practice where a company couldn't exceed the creeping acquisition limit in any one-year time frame. SEBI has almost always been found lacking in the legal foundations of its action against defaulting corporates. The SEBI has not been given the sweeping powers to directly tackle the wrongdoers (many of whom have surfaced during the five-year timeframe when the

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