Pendency In Regulatory Approval Has Declined, Says SEBI Chairperson

Data shows that the pendency of regulatory approval has declined—not only in fundraising applications but also in applications for registration of investment vehicles, according to SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch.

Buch shared key data regarding the efficiency of the market regulator's performance over the past year during a press conference on Monday.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is keen on facilitating the capital formation process, according to Buch. She acknowledged how delays in regulatory approval affect the funding process and shared the measures taken to address the issue.

As a first step, SEBI has started measuring its turnaround time for applications. It is calculated from the date of application rather than the traditional way of measuring it from the last date of communication—to ensure that it's not calculated in a manner beneficial to the regulator, she said. The data provided by SEBI is 'no-excuse data' and gives some insight into the efficiency the market regulator has achieved over the past year.

The number of pending applications for equity raising has come down to 28 as of May 31, as against 49 applications on March 31, 2022. Applications that have been pending for over six months have also come down to two from eight.

The data includes all equity fundraising applications, including IPOs as well as rights issues.

Similarly, in mutual fund schemes, the number of pending applications has also come down to six as of May 31, from 106 in August 2022.

Improvements were also seen in the processing of AIF scheme applications. The number of pending applications in this segment has reduced from 145 to 56 over the last year, the chairperson said.

However, in real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts, the improvement has been marginal, as the pendency has merely been reduced from one pending application to zero.

Efficiency was also achieved in the registration of various investment vehicles. The number of pending applications for new investment vehicles has reduced from 12 to seven over the past year. In AIFs, the pendency has decreased from 63 to 41, she said.