Sinha proposes 25% minimum public shareholding norm for PSUs

The minimum public shareholding in listed companies should be 25 per cent irrespective of ownership — private or public sector undertakings, said UK Sinha, Chairman, SEBI, at the CII Capital Market Conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“We are talking to the Government on this. SEBI regulations should be neutral to ownership,” he said.

Currently, the minimum public shareholding in a PSU is 10 per cent. Sinha said the requirement of companies with net worth of up to ₹4,000 crore to offer 25 per cent of equity and those above ₹4,000 crore to offer 10 per cent of equity creates an anomaly for borderline cases (those companies whose net worth is close to the ₹4,000-crore mark).

SEBI plans to correct this anomaly in IPOs. “There have been suggestions to increase the qualified institutional buyer’s portion in public offerings and reduce the retail portion. SEBI is not in favour of this suggestion,” he said.

As suggested by market participants, SEBI is considering an increase in the anchor investor quota within the QIB in a public offering. The regulator felt India Inc would be better off if the regulator’s recent corporate governance norms were implemented in letter and spirit.

There are a some areas where synchronisation between the Companies Act and SEBI is required. SEBI is in dialogue with the Corporate Affairs Ministry on this, he said.

SEBI is also working towards correcting discrepancies in ESOP guidelines and working towards implementing an IT system to avoid repetitive filing of the same information.

“The Government is moving towards a one-time KYC for the financial sector. We will share data with KYC registration agencies with other regulators,” he added.

The regulator has also set up a core group to review the annual information memorandum filed by companies. The group has been given three months to suggest changes and make life easier for corporates. SEBI has also spoken to the Government on giving a pass through status to real estate investment trusts, besides providing tax breaks.

“REITs won’t succeed unless the tax issue is addressed,” Sinha said.