MUMBAI: The board of Sebi on Friday decided to make it easier for transfer of securities that are in the name of deceased investors to the legal heirs and claimants by simplifying and standardising the process. It also created a new category of claimants where the value of securities is not more than Rs 10,000 per scrip for those in physical form and not above Rs 30,000 held in demat.The regulatory agency also doubled the small-value claim amount to Rs 10 lakh per scrip for physical shares and Rs 30 lakh for demat shares. Further, the Sebi board allowed the re-introduction of the open market share buyback process that uses the stock exchange mechanism. A few years ago, this process was withdrawn due to taxation issues, Sebi officials said.
The Sebi board also made it easier for fund houses to avail of intra-day borrowing to bridge liquidity mismatch. And, to bring in more transparency among Sebi’s employees, the board also approved a new Code of Conduct for Members of Sebi and amendments to the Sebi (Employees’ Service) Regulations, 2001, chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.The regulatory body’s top decision making body also approved a host of measures that would reduce procedural requirements and streamline the transmission process. It said that since the transmission would be into a demat account, which in any case needs a PAN for opening, the requirement to submit a PAN was not required. It said the mandatory requirement of obtaining probate of a will has been done away with, in line with recent amendments to succession laws. The regulator also said that from now a combined affidavit-cum-no objection certificate (NOC) will be required, instead of separate affidavits and NOCs. It also allowed death certificates (DCs) carrying a QR code for this process, in addition to original or attested copies of DCs.Sebi also decided to re-introduce open market buy-back through the stock exchange mechanism. It also reviewed the buy-back processes, post “the revision in taxation framework and the suggestions received from stakeholders with the objective of providing greater flexibility in undertaking buy-backs, reducing procedural complexity and strengthening investor protection,” the release said.‘No self-listing’Pandey said the regulator was not considering any proposal to allow self-listing, meaning allowing a stock exchange or its group company to list on its own bourse. In India, BSE is listed and traded only on NSE.
