The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday decided to mandate listed entities to submit business responsibility reports, as a part of their annual reports, describing measures taken by them along the key principles enunciated in the ‘National voluntary guidelines on social, environmental and economic responsibilities of business,' framed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
“To start with, the requirement will be applicable to top 100 companies in terms of market capitalisation and would be extended to other companies in a phased manner,” said SEBI in a statement after its board meeting here. This initiative would assess fulfilment of the environmental, social and governance responsibilities of listed entities.
It has been decided to specify a maximum tenure of 12 months for warrants issued along with public/rights issue of securities to avoid the possible misuse.
The issuer would be required to provide disclosures about utilisation of funds so raised, both in the offer document as well as on a continuous basis.
To make the concept of anchor investors (AIs) more effective, SEBI has decided to prescribe a minimum allotment size of Rs.5 crore and the maximum number of AIs, slab-wise. The concept of anchor investors was introduced by SEBI in June, 2009, as a class of committed investors who can be relied on to anchor an issue of capital in all market conditions, adverse or otherwise.
Considering the constraints in disclosure by investee companies regarding funds (such as venture capital funds and the like), which are shown as one of the promoters of such investee company, it has been decided to specify a separate set of disclosures for them.
The board approved amendment to Regulation 7A of the SEBI (Debenture Trustee) Regulations, 1993, to increase the net worth requirement of debenture trustees from the existing Rs.1 crore, which was fixed as back as 2003, to Rs.2 crore.
The board also approved to grant two years to existing debenture trustees, from the date of notification of regulations, to the new level.
