This column has often rued the lack of data and research supporting some of Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) decisions. A recent case in point is its decision to increase the minimum contract size in the equity derivatives segment from Rs.2 lakh to Rs.5 lakh.

The decision was communicated through a sudden circular, with no data or research provided to justify the move. A little over three years ago, Sebi had, in similar fashion, changed the criteria for selecting stocks that can be part of the derivatives segment. As a result, 51 stocks were excluded from the list.

NEW DELHI: Lanco Infratech Ltd today said the board will meet next week to consider the proposal for issuing compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs).

"A meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on December 30, 2015, inter alia, to consider the proposal for issuance of Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCDs) through preferential issue not exceeding 35 crore CCDs of Rs 10 each and seek shareholders' approval for the same," Lanco Infratech said in a regulatory filing.

As Sebi tightens its noose on defaulters and market manipulators, the number of attachment proceedings initiated by the markets regulator against the defaulters has surged by more than five times to 1,610 in the past fiscal.

In comparison, the number of attachment proceedings initiated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) stood at 299 in 2013-14.

Matrimony.Com, which operates under BharatMatrimony brand, and Quick Heal Technologies have received markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approval to launch their Initial Public Offers (IPOs) and may raise around Rs 1,000 crore.

Matrimony.Com had filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi in August, while Quick Heal had submitted its draft documents in September.

Taking note of the small number of demat accounts that have been converted to basic services demat account (BSDA) in the past three years, despite a large number of accounts being eligible for conversion, the capital market regulator recently issued a circular to depository participants (DPs) asking them to submit a status report (see it here: http://bit.ly/1PcUrZQ).

A BSDA is a demat account for small retail investors (market value of demat holdings do not exceed Rs.2 lakh on any day). It has low or no cost.

Mumbai: U.K. Sinha, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday asked merchant bankers to promote the new platform to list start-ups within India and come up with ideas to make listing easier for companies in the early stage of growth to raise capital through the new platform. Sinha said he has met several executives of start-ups in Delhi and Bengaluru after enabling them to list in India in August.

Indian regulators have launched an unprecedented drive to boost corporate transparency, bombarding firms with disclosure demands, but clumsy execution has created suspicions of a box-ticking exercise that may not entirely achieve its aim.

Poor disclosure among India-listed firms is a turnoff for foreign investors, a weakness Asia's third-largest economy can ill afford as competition for overseas capital heats up among emerging markets in expectation of higher U.S. interest rates.

Small investors are best advised to enter the stock market through institutions such as mutual funds and pension funds, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said today while asserting that he was not worried if smaller investors do not participate in IPOs directly.

Sinha also emphasised that the regulator has put in place all necessary measures to check any manipulations in the primary markets, even as various attempts have been made in the past to manipulate the IPOs.

This year’s India International Trade Fair 2015, Delhi, (IITF) has something new besides handicraft, food, gadgets and machines. Vying with the other stalls is one from the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), whose pavilion is named ‘Bharat Kaa Share Bazaar’. Next to Sebi’s pavilion is one by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The main purpose is to engage public to increase financial literacy and investor awareness.

New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, on Thursday slapped a fine of Rs.1.84 crore on Arun Jain, chairman and managing director of Polaris Software Lab Ltd, Rs.19.69 lakh on R. Srikanth, the company’s ex-chief financial officer, for allegedly making illegitimate gains through trading in shares of the company while in the possession of unpublished price sensitive information in 2008.

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