Sebi overhauls high-power advisory committee on settlement orders, deadline reduced to 60 days

Capital markets regulator Sebi has restructured its four-member high-powered advisory committee on settlement orders and compounding of offenses, as per PTI reported.

According to a recent update with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the committee will now be headed by Jai Narayan Patel, former chief justice of Calcutta High Court.

Earlier, the panel was chaired by a retired judge of Bombay High Court, Vijay C Daga.

According to PTI, Sebi has added two new members to its committee: M S Sahoo, former chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, and Poornima Advani, former chairperson of the National Commission for Women.

P K Malhotra, a former law secretary in the Ministry of Law & Justice of India, will remain on the committee.

The panel will operate in accordance with the regulator's Settlement Proceedings Regulations.

Under the settlement mechanism, an alleged offender might pay a settlement fee to the regulator to resolve a pending matter with the regulator without admitting or denying guilt, PTI mentioned.

The settlement mechanism is a method for resolving conflicts quickly and effectively.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) changed the Settlement Proceedings standard in January.

The deadline for filing settlement petitions has been reduced from 180 days to 60 days under the new guidelines, in an effort to make the procedure more efficient, according to PTI.

Previously, a settlement application may be submitted within 60 of the date of receipt of the show-cause notice. However, if the applicants pay an extra 25% over the settlement charges, they will be given an additional 120 days.

Now, the regulator has removed the 120-day additional time provision, according to a notification.

The move is aimed at rationalising norms on settlement proceedings.

In addition,  the time limit for submitting an updated settlement conditions form, after the Internal Committee (IC), has been reduced to 15 days. This will be from the date of the IC meeting, PTI said.

The present regulation allows for a total of 10 days plus additional 20 days.