SEBI Eases Rules for Issuers Looking To List Unlisted ISINs
The new SEBI rule enables issuers to convert unlisted ISINs into listed ones, excluding them from the annual ISIN maturity limit, fostering transparency and market growth.
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange board of India on Friday provided relaxation for issuers aiming to list their unlisted International Securities Identification Numbers outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2023 to encourage bringing these into the listed space.
Under the new framework, such ISINs, when converted to listed ones, will be excluded from the maximum ISIN limit that can mature in a financial year.
This measure encourages issuers to bring their unlisted ISINs into the listed space, promoting greater transparency and market participation.
The ISIN (International Securities Identification Number) code, which has 12 characters, identifies securities such as stocks, bonds, warrants, and commercial papers.
Regulation 62A of SEBI's Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations mandates a listed entity (whose non-convertible debt securities are listed) to list all non-convertible debt securities proposed to be issued on or after Jan. 1, 2024, on the stock exchanges.
Additionally, it provides an option to a listed entity to list its outstanding unlisted non-convertible debt securities issued on or before Dec. 31, 2023.
Under the rule, Sebi specified a maximum of 14 ISINs that can mature in a financial year in respect of private placement of debt securities. A further six ISINs are available for the issuance of capital gains tax debt securities by authorised issuers under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
"In order to encourage issuers to list their grandfathered outstanding unlisted ISINs, it has been decided that unlisted ISINs outstanding as on 31 December 2023, converted to listed ISINs, subsequent to introduction of Regulation 62A, shall be excluded from the maximum limit of ISINs specified," SEBI said in a circular on Friday.
Accordingly, unlisted ISINs outstanding as on Dec. 31, 2023 which are converted to listed ISINs, pursuant to the provision of Regulation 62A(2) of LODR Regulations, shall be excluded from the maximum limit of ISINs to mature in a financial year, it added.
(With inputs from PTI.)
