Market regulator SEBI in an effort to protect investors has directed stock exchanges to invoke bank guarantees-- provided by companies ahead of coming up with new issues-- before they expired if the firms fail to comply with security deposit guidelines."The stock exchanges are hereby directed to invoke such bank guarantees before it expires, if any issuer company fails to satisfy the shortfall in the deposit amount either by cash or by fresh/renewed bank guarantees, within the given time frame," Sebi said in a communication to the heads of stock exchanges.
Under the Clause 42 of the listing agreement, companies proposing new issues are required to keep one per cent of the total amount of securities offered with the stock exchanges 50 per cent of the amount can be in cash and the rest as bank guarantees.
"By allowing such bank guarantees to expire, the stock exchanges have compromised with an important mechanism available for redressal of investor grievances," SEBI said.
The fresh Sebi guidelines with regard to security deposit, equity head of Nexgen Capital Jagannadhan Thunuguntla said, "will put extra pressure on companies which have come out with IPOs and have not yet complied with the Clause 42 of the listing agreement."
Sebi further asked the stock exchanges to put in place a system to track bank guarantees furnished to it by the issuer companies and "should generate alerts at least one month prior to the expiry of such bank guarantee."
"Bank guarantees kept with bourses have expired and exchanges have neither taken any step to prevent such eventuality nor to revive them so expired," SEBI noted.
Further, the regulator turned down the proposal of stock exchanges of adjusting the security deposits against the dues payable by companies.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|