Mumbai : Setting September 28 as the date for merger of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with itself, Sebi today announced new norms for commodities derivatives market under which exchanges and brokers in this segment will need to comply with rules applicable to their stock market peers.
The new regulations will also come into force on September 28, the date from which Sebi would begin regulating the commodity derivatives market as a unified regulator.
These norms, approved by Sebi’s board will enable functioning of the commodities derivatives market and its brokers under Sebi norms and integration of commodities derivatives and securities trading in an “It is a welcome step. The guidelines related to ownership and networth among others are more or less in line with our expectation,” MCX Joint Managing Director P K Singhal said.
He, however, said that the Sebi has not considered the industry’s demand to continue to allow some section like corporates, jewellers and base metal traders to trade on the exchange platform directly as members and not through brokerage firms. Banks are allowed to trade as members on the currency platform, he added. orderly manner.
Echoing views, NCDEX Managing Director and CEO Samir Shah said, “The FMC-SEBI merger is a welcome step and we are looking forward to the final merger and coming under the SEBI umbrella. This is a big milestone for the commodity market and the exchanges and will usher in the next set of reforms.”
Currently, there are three national commodity exchanges — MCX, NCDEX and NMCE and six regional level bourses.
The major compliances include norms related to net worth, shareholding norms, composition of board, corporatisation and demutualisation and setting up of various committees, turnover, infrastructure etc.
With an aim to boost fund raising through primary markets, Sebi approved relaxed norms for public offers by removing restriction on maximum number of anchor investors.
The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has approved the removal of current restriction on the maximum number of anchor investors (currently 25) for anchor allocation of public issue worth over Rs 250 crore.
However, the requirement of number of anchor investors for allocation of up to Rs 250 crore remains the same.
In case of public offers worth more than Rs 250 crore, Sebi said, “there can be 10 additional investors for every additional allocation of Rs 250 crore, subject to minimum allotment of Rs 5 crore per anchor investor.”
An anchor investor in market parlance refers to a qualified institutional buyer (QIB) making an application for a value of Rs 10 crore or more through the book-building process.
The volume and value of anchor subscriptions serve as an indicator of the firm’s soundness of the offer. It also sets a benchmark and gives a guideline for issue pricing and interest among QIBs.
