Sebi Board Meeting: From disclosure norms to FPI registrations to 'finfluencer' guidelines, market regulator clears several groundbreaking moves

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved a number of significant changes to its rules and regulations at a much-anticipated meeting of its board on Thursday, June 27. Some of the key changes included approval to certain voluntary delisting regulations, dedicated rules for investment and holding companies, and guidelines related to the code-of conduct of ‘finfluencers’ - or influencers who specialise in creating content related to finance-related themes such as investments, personal finance and financial education.

Here's a summary of some of the key decisions taken by the Sebi board: 

• Entry scale, product success framework approved for single stock derivatives  
  • Market-wide position limit (MWPL) to be raised to Rs 1,500 crore
  • Daily average delivery volume to be increased to Rs 35 crore
  • Median quarter order sigma size to be raised to Rs 75 lakh 
  • Existing F&O stocks to get three months after release of circular; six months for product success framework
• Voluntary delisting rules approved
  • Fixed price offer floor price must be higher than 15 per cent
  • Separate rules approved for delisting of investment and holding companies  
  • Minimum 75 per cent investment required in listed company
• Select FPIs to get exemption from additional disclosure rules with conditions
  • Category 1 FPIs such as registered university funds and university-linked endowments exempted
  • Condition: Indian equity AUM should be less than 25 per cent of global equity AUM
  • Global AUM should be a minimum of Rs 10,000 crore 
  • Must be tax-registered as a non-profit organisation in home country​
• Non-convertible redeemable preference shares-related rules eased
  • Public comment period reduced from seven days to one working day
  • Minimum subscription period reduced from three days to two working days
• Third-party evaluation of market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) approved
  • Operations of MIIs and their statutory committees to be evaluated 
  • Third-party evaluation to be conducted every three years 
  • First evaluation to be conducted one year of the implementation of new rules
• No automatic penalty on stock exchange MDs and CTOs over technical glitches
  • Earlier rules stated penalties on MDs and CTOs 
  • Industry opposed the rule on the pretext that it will be a big hindrance in preserving talent