SEBI has extended the timeline for verification of market rumours a second time. The deadline has been postponed to June 1 for the top 100 companies by market capitalisation and to December 31 for top 250 companies.
The norms were originally supposed to be effective from October 1 last year for the top 100 firms and from April 1, 2024, for the top 250 entities. This was later extended to February 1, 2024, and August 1, 2024, respectively.
“Considering that the industry standards are under finalisation and certain amendments to LODR Regulations are required for implementation of the aforesaid provision, it has been decided to extend the timeline for effective date of implementation of the proviso to regulation 30(11) of the LODR Regulations,” a SEBI circular said on Thursday.
New norms
As per the new norms, companies are required to confirm, deny, or clarify any reported events or information in mainstream media which are not general in nature and which indicate that rumours of an impending specific material event or information are circulating among the investing public.
Last month, the Industry Standards Forum proposed that the requirement for rumour verification for listed firms be made applicable whenever there is a material “price movement” of the entities’ securities — instead of a material “event”.