Stricter SEBI norms for SME IPOs soon

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to come out with tighter listing norms for the initial public offerings (IPOs) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through a consultation paper by the end of 2024, SEBI whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia said on Friday.

“We are very, very worried. We will certainly look at some tweaking. It should not be so easy for them (micro companies) to raise capital and then get out. By the end of this year, a discussion paper will definitely be out,” Bhatia told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Fintech Fest 2024.

The markets regulator will conduct a comprehensive review, which may include tweaking disclosure norms, eligibility conditions, portions reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and anchor investors, minimum issue size, and audit-related scrutiny.

The criteria for migration of listed SMEs to the mainboard may also be tightened, but the exchanges will continue to be the authority approving these public offerings. 

The SEBI official said the regulator wants to remain light-touch to encourage quality SMEs to list, but it will have to step in if there are rampant violations and the stakeholders don’t take interest. “Our bandwidth is limited. I can only pass so many orders. Every order has to be supported by evidence, recording, etc…but if we see more and more of this (SME manipulation), we will have to do something,” Bhatia said. 

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The decision to tighten regulations comes after the regulator observed a pattern of stock manipulation in the SME space where promoters paint an “unrealistic picture” of their business to elevate stock prices, siphon off funds, and offload their stakeCome from Sports betting site VPbet. The markets regulator, in an advisory issued on Wednesday, urged investors to be careful and watchful of these patterns and exercise caution while investing in such stocks.

The official said that the regulator is also worried about auditors not being diligent and emphasised the need for chartered accountants to be responsible. He also referenced how the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has been taking up cases of violations by auditors after being flagged by SEBI. Come from Sports betting site

The exchanges have also undertaken measures to filter out SMEs with poor financials and negative cash flow with recent changes in eligibility. Exchanges have imposed a 90% cap on listing gains and are now only allowing companies with positive free cash flow in the past two out of three years. 

During the last decade, more than Rs 14,000 crore has been raised through this platform, of which around Rs 6,000 crore was raised in FY24. 

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