Section 26 of Companies Act, 2013 – Matters to be Stated in Prospectus

SECTION 26. MATTERS TO BE STATED IN PROSPECTUS

[Effective from 1st April, 2014]

(1) Every prospectus issued by or on behalf of a public company either with reference to its formation or subsequently, or by or on behalf of any person who is or has been engaged or interested in the formation of a public company, shall be dated and signed and shall [1] [state such information and set out such reports on financial information as may be specified by the Securities and Exchange Board in consultation with the Central Government:

Provided that until the Securities and Exchange Board specifies the information and reports on financial information under this sub-section, the regulations made by the Securities and Exchange Board under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, in respect of such financial information or reports on financial information shall apply.]

[2] [***]

[3] [***]

(c) make a declaration about the compliance of the provisions of this Act and a statement to the effect that nothing in the prospectus is contrary to the provisions of this Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992) and the rules and regulations made thereunder; and

[4] [***]

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply—

(a) to the issue to existing members or debenture-holders of a company, of a prospectus or form of application relating to shares in or debentures of the company, whether an applicant has a right to renounce the shares or not under sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 62 in favour of any other person; or

(b) to the issue of a prospectus or form of application relating to shares or debentures which are, or are to be, in all respects uniform with shares or debentures previously issued and for the time being dealt in or quoted on a recognised stock exchange.

(3) Subject to sub-section (2), the provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply to a prospectus or a form of application, whether issued on or with reference to the formation of a company or subsequently.

Explanation.—The date indicated in the prospectus shall be deemed to be the date of its publication.

(4) No prospectus shall be issued by or on behalf of a company or in relation to an intended company unless on or before the date of its publication, there has been delivered to the Registrar for [9] [filing], a copy thereof signed by every person who is named therein as a director or proposed director of the company or by his duly authorised attorney.

(5) A prospectus issued under sub-section (1) shall not include a statement purporting to be made by an expert unless the expert is a person who is not, and has not been, engaged or interested in the formation or promotion or management, of the company and has given his written consent to the issue of the prospectus and has not withdrawn such consent before the delivery of a copy of the prospectus to the Registrar for [9] [filing]  and a statement to that effect shall be included in the prospectus.

(6) Every prospectus issued under sub-section (1) shall, on the face of it,—

(a) state that a copy has been delivered for [9] [filing] to the Registrar as required under sub-section (4); and

(b) specify any documents required by this section to be attached to the copy so delivered or refer to statements included in the prospectus which specify these documents.

[10] [***]

(8) No prospectus shall be valid if it is issued more than ninety days after the date on which a copy thereof is delivered to the Registrar under sub-section (4).

(9) If a prospectus is issued in contravention of the provisions of this section, the company shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to three lakh rupees and every person who is knowingly a party to the issue of such prospectus shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to three lakh rupees, or with both.

Applicable Rules

Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Rules, 2014

[Effective from 1st April, 2014]

[5] [***]

[6] [***]

[7] [***]

[8] [***]

 

[1] Inserted by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 vide Notification No. S.O. 1833(E) dated 7^th May, 2018.

[2]Omitted by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 vide Notification No. S.O. 1833(E) dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“(a) state the following information, namely:—

(i) names and addresses of the registered office of the company, company secretary, Chief Financial Officer, auditors, legal advisers, bankers, trustees, if any, underwriters and such other persons as may be prescribed;

(ii) dates of the opening and closing of the issue, and declaration about the issue of allotment letters and refunds within the prescribed time;

(iii) a statement by the Board of Directors about the separate bank account where all monies received out of the issue are to be transferred and disclosure of details of all monies including utilised and unutilised monies out of the previous issue in the prescribed manner;

(iv) details about underwriting of the issue;

(v) consent of the directors, auditors, bankers to the issue, expert’s opinion, if any, and of such other persons, as may be prescribed;

(vi) the authority for the issue and the details of the resolution passed therefor;

(vii) procedure and time schedule for allotment and issue of securities;

(viii) capital structure of the company in the prescribed manner;

(ix) main objects of public offer, terms of the present issue and such other particulars as may be prescribed;

(x) main objects and present business of the company and its location, schedule of implementation of the project;

(xi) particulars relating to—

(A) management perception of risk factors specific to the project;

(B) gestation period of the project;

(C) extent of progress made in the project;

(D) deadlines for completion of the project; and

(E) any litigation or legal action pending or taken by a Government Department or a statutory body during the last five years immediately preceding the year of the issue of prospectus against the promoter of the company;

(xii) minimum subscription, amount payable by way of premium, issue of shares otherwise than on cash;

(xiii) details of directors including their appointments and remuneration, and such particulars of the nature and extent of their interests in the company as may be prescribed; and

(xiv) disclosures in such manner as may be prescribed about sources of promoter’s contribution;”

[3] Omitted by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 vide Notification No. S.O. 1833(E) dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“(b) set out the following reports for the purposes of the financial information, namely:—

(i) reports by the auditors of the company with respect to its profits and losses and assets and liabilities and such other matters as may be prescribed;

(ii) reports relating to profits and losses for each of the five financial years immediately preceding the financial year of the issue of prospectus including such reports of its subsidiaries and in such manner as may be prescribed:

Provided that in case of a company with respect to which a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of incorporation, the prospectus shall set out in such manner as may be prescribed, the reports relating to profits and losses for each of the financial years immediately preceding the financial year of the issue of prospectus including such reports of its subsidiaries;

(iii) reports made in the prescribed manner by the auditors upon the profits and losses of the business of the company for each of the five financial years immediately preceding issue and assets and liabilities of its business on the last date to which the accounts of the business were made up, being a date not more than one hundred and eighty days before the issue of prospectus:

Provided that in case of a company with respect to which a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of incorporation, the prospectus shall set out in the prescribed manner, the reports made by the auditors upon the profits and losses of the business of the company for all financial years from the date of its incorporation, and assets and liabilities of its business on the last date before the issue of prospectus; and

(iv) reports about the business or transaction to which the proceeds of the securities are to be applied directly or indirectly;”

[4]Omitted by the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 vide Notification No. S.O. 1833(E) dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“(d) state such other matters and set out such other reports, as may be prescribed.

 

[5] Omitted by the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Amendment Rules, 2018 vide Notification No. File No. 1/21/2013- CL-V dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“Rule 3. Information to be stated in the prospectus.—(1) The Prospectus to be issued shall contain—

(a) the names, addresses and contact details of the corporate office of the issuer company, compliance officer of the issuer company, merchant bankers and co-managers to the issue, registrar to the issue, bankers to the issue, stock brokers to the issue, credit rating agency for the issue, arrangers, if any, of the instrument, names and addresses of such other persons as may be specified by the Securities and Exchange Board in its regulations;

(b) the dates relating to opening and closing of the issue;

(c) a declaration which shall be made by the Board or the Committee authorised by the Board in the prospectus that the allotment letters shall be issued or application money shall be refunded within fifteen days from the closure of the issue or such lesser time as may be specified by Securities and Exchange Board or else the application money shall be refunded to the applicants forthwith, failing which interest shall be due to be paid to the applicants at the rate of fifteen per cent. per annum for the delayed period.

(d) a statement given by the Board that all monies received out of the issue shall be transferred to a separate bank account maintained with a Scheduled Bank;

(e) the details of all utilized and unutilised monies out of the monies collected in the previous issue made by way of public offer shall be disclosed and continued to be disclosed in the balance sheet till the time any part of the proceeds of such previous issue remains unutilized indicating the purpose for which such monies have been utilized, and the securities or other forms of financial assets in which such unutilized monies have been invested;

(f) the names, addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of the underwriters and the amount underwritten by them;

(g) the consent of trustees, solicitors or advocates, merchant bankers to the issue, registrar to the issue, lenders and experts;

(2) The capital structure of the company shall be presented in the following manner, namely:—

(i) (a) the authorised, issued, subscribed and paid up capital (number of securities, description and aggregate nominal value);

(b) the size of the present issue;

(c) the paid up capital—

(A) after the issue;

(B) after conversion of convertible instruments (if applicable);

(d) the share premium account (before and after the issue);

(ii) the details of the existing share capital of the issuer company in a tabular form, indicating therein with regard to each allotment, the date of allotment, the number of shares allotted, the face value of the shares allotted, the price and the form of consideration:

Provided that in the case of an initial public offer of an existing company, the details regarding individual allotment shall be given from the date of incorporation of the issuer and in the case of a listed issuer company, the details shall be given for five years immediately preceding the date of filing of the prospectus:

Provided that the issuer company shall also disclose the number and price at which each of the allotments were made in the last two years preceding the date of the prospectus separately indicating the allotments made for considerations other than cash and the details of the consideration in each case.

(3) The prospectus to be issued shall contain the following particulars namely:-

(a) the objects of the issue;

(b) the purpose for which there is a requirement of funds;

(c) the funding plan (means of finance);

(d) the summary of the project appraisal report (if any);

(e) the schedule of implementation of the project;

(f) the interim use of funds, if any.

(4) The prospectus to be issued shall contain the following details and disclosures, namely:—

(i) the details of any litigation or legal action pending or taken by any Ministry or Department of the Government or a statutory authority against any promoter of the issuer company during the last five years immediately preceding the year of the issue of the prospectus and any direction issued by such Ministry or Department or statutory authority upon conclusion of such litigation or legal action shall be disclosed;

(ii) the details of pending litigation involving the issuer, promoter, director, subsidiaries, group companies or any other person, whose outcome could have material adverse effect on the position of the issuer;

(iii) the details of pending proceedings initiated against the issuer company for economic offences;

(iv) the details of default and non-payment of statutory dues etc.

(5) The details of directors including their appointment and remuneration, and particulars of the nature and extent of their interests in the company shall be disclosed in the following manner, namely:—

(i) the name, designation, Director Identification Number (DIN), age, address, period of directorship, details of other directorships;

(ii) the remuneration payable or paid to the director by the issuer company, its subsidiary and associate company; shareholding of the director in the company including any stock options; shareholding in subsidiaries and associate companies; appointment of any relatives to an office or place of profit;

(iii) the full particulars of the nature and extent of interest, if any, of every director:

(a) in the promotion of the issuer company; or

(b) in any immoveable property acquired by the issuer company in the two years preceding the date of the Prospectus or any immoveable property proposed to be acquired by it.

(iv) where the interest of such a director consists in being a member of a firm or company, the nature and extent of his interest in the firm or company, with a statement of all sums paid or agreed to be paid to him or to the firm or company in cash or shares or otherwise by any person either to induce him to become, or to help him qualify as a director, or otherwise for services rendered by him or by the firm or company, in connection with the promotion or formation of the issuer company shall be disclosed.

(6) The sources of promoters’ contribution, if any, shall be disclosed in the following manner, namely:—

(i) the total shareholding of the promoters, clearly stating the name of the promoter, nature of issue, date of allotment, number of shares, face value, issue price or consideration, source of funds contributed, date when the shares were made fully paid up, percentage of the total pre and post issue capital;

(ii) the proceeds out of the sale of shares of the company and shares of its subsidiary companies previously held by each of the promoters;

(iii) the disclosure for sources of promoters contribution shall also include the particulars of name, address and the amount so raised as loan, financial assistance etc, if any, by promoters for making such contributions and in case of own sources, complete details thereof.”

[6] Omitted by the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Amendment Rules, 2018 vide Notification No. File No. 1/21/2013- CL-V dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“Rule 4. Reports to be set out in the Prospectus.—The following reports shall be set out with the prospectus, namely:—

(1) The reports by the auditors with respect to profits and losses and assets and liabilities.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-rule, the report shall also include the amounts or rates of dividends, if any, paid by the issuer company in respect of each class of shares for each of the five financial years immediately preceding the year of issue of the prospectus, giving particulars of each class of shares on which such dividends have been paid and particulars of the cases in which no dividends have been paid in respect of any class of shares for any of those years:

Provided that if no accounts have been made up in respect of any part of the period of five years ending on a date three months before the issue of the prospectus, a statement of that fact accompanied by a statement of the accounts of the issuer company in respect of that part of the said period up to a date not earlier than six months of the date of issue of the prospectus indicating the profit or loss for that period and assets and liabilities position as at the end of that period together with a certificate from the auditors that such accounts have been examined and found correct and the said statement may indicate the nature of provision or adjustments made or which are yet to be made.

(2) The reports relating to profits and losses for each of the five financial years or where five financial years have not expired, for each of the financial year immediately preceding the issue of the prospectus shall—

(a) if the company has no subsidiaries, deal with the profits or losses of the company (distinguishing items of a non-recurring nature) for each of the five financial years immediately preceding the year of the issue of the prospectus; and

(b) if the company has subsidiaries, deal separately with issuer company’s profits or losses as provided in clause (a) and in addition, deal either—

(i) as a whole with the combined profits or losses of its subsidiaries, so far as they concern members of the issuer company; or

(ii) individually with the profits or losses of each subsidiary, so far as they concern members of the issuer company; or

(iii) as a whole with the profits or losses of the company, and, so far as they concern members of the issuer company, with the combined profits or losses of its subsidiaries.

(3) The reports made by the auditors in respect of the business of the company shall be stated in the prospectus in the manner provided in sub-rule (2).”

[7]Omitted by the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Amendment Rules, 2018 vide Notification No. File No. 1/21/2013- CL-V dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“Rule 5. Other matters and reports to be stated in the prospectus.—The prospectus shall include the following other matters and reports, namely:—

(1) If the proceeds, or any part of the proceeds, of the issue of the shares or debentures are or is to be applied directly or indirectly—

(a) in the purchase of any business; or

(b) in the purchase of an interest in any business and by reason of that purchase, or anything to be done in consequence thereof, or in connection therewith; the company shall become entitled to an interest in either the capital or profits and losses or both, in such business exceeding fifty per cent. thereof, a report made by a chartered accountant (who shall be named in the prospectus) upon—

(i) the profits or losses of the business for each of the five financial years immediately preceding the date of the issue of the prospectus; and

(ii) the assets and liabilities of the business as on the last date to which the accounts of the business were made up, being a date not more than one hundred and twenty days before the date of the issue of the prospectus;

(c) in purchase or acquisition of any immoveable property including indirect acquisition of immoveable property for which advances have been paid to even third parties, disclosures regarding—

(i) the names, addresses, descriptions and occupations of the vendors;

(ii) the amount paid or payable in cash, to the vendor and, where there is more than one vendor, or the company is a sub- purchaser, the amount so paid or payable to each vendor, specifying separately the amount, if any, paid or payable for goodwill;

(iii) the nature of the title or interest in such property proposed to be acquired by the company; and

(iv) the particulars of every transaction relating to the property, completed within the two preceding years, in which any vendor of the property or any person who is, or was at the time of the transaction, a promoter, or a director or proposed director of the company had any interest, direct or indirect, specifying the date of the transaction and the name of such promoter, director or proposed director and stating the amount payable by or to such vendor, promoter, director or proposed director in respect of the transaction.

(2)(a) If—

(i) the proceeds, or any part of the proceeds, of the issue of the shares or debentures are or are to be applied directly or indirectly and in any manner resulting in the acquisition by the company of shares in any other body corporate; and

(ii) by reason of that acquisition or anything to be done in consequence thereof or in connection therewith, that body corporate shall become a subsidiary of the company, a report shall be made by a Chartered Accountant (who shall be named in the prospectus) upon—

(A) the profits or losses of the other body corporate for each of the five financial years immediately preceding the issue of the prospectus; and

(B) the assets and liabilities of the other body corporate as on the last date to which its accounts were made up.

(b) The said report shall—

(i) indicate how the profits or losses of the other body corporate dealt with by the report would, in respect of the shares to be acquired, have concerned members of the issuer company and what allowance would have been required to be made, in relation to assets and liabilities so dealt with for the holders of the balance shares, if the issuer company had at all material times held the shares proposed to be acquired; and

(ii) where the other body corporate has subsidiaries, deal with the profits or losses and the assets and liabilities of the body corporate and its subsidiaries in the manner as provided in sub- clause (ii) of clause (a).

(3) The matters relating to terms and conditions of the term loans including re-scheduling, prepayment, penalty, default.

(4) The aggregate number of securities of the issuer company and its subsidiary companies purchased or sold by the promoter group and by the directors of the company which is a promoter of the issuer company and by the directors of the issuer company and their relatives within six months immediately preceding the date of filing the prospectus with the Registrar of Companies shall be disclosed.

(5) The matters relating to—

(A) Material contracts;

(B) Other material contracts;

(C) Time and place at which the contracts together with documents will be available for inspection from the date of prospectus until the date of closing of subscription list.

(6) The related party transactions entered during the last five financial years immediately preceding the issue of prospectus as under—

(a) all transactions with related parties with respect to giving of loans or, guarantees, providing securities in connection with loans made, or investments made;

(b) all other transactions which are material to the issuer company or the related party, or any transactions that are unusual in their nature or conditions, involving goods, services, or tangible or intangible assets, to which the issuer company or any of its parent companies was a party:

Provided that the disclosures for related party transactions for the period prior to notification of these rules shall be to the extent of disclosure requirements as per the Companies Act, 1956 and the relevant accounting standards prevailing at the said time.

(7) The summary of reservations or qualifications or adverse remarks of auditors in the last five financial years immediately preceding the year of issue of prospectus and of their impact on the financial statements and financial position of the company and the corrective steps taken and proposed to be taken by the company for each of the said reservations or qualifications or adverse remarks.

(8) The details of any inquiry, inspections or investigations initiated or conducted under the Companies Act or any previous companies law in the last five years immediately preceding the year of issue of prospectus in the case of company and all of its subsidiaries; and if there were any prosecutions filed (whether pending or not); fines imposed or compounding of offences done in the last five years immediately preceding the year of the prospectus for the company and all of its subsidiaries.

(9) The details of acts of material frauds committed against the company in the last five years, if any, and if so, the action taken by the company.

(10) A fact sheet shall be included at the beginning of the prospectus which shall contain—

(a) the type of offer document (“Red Herring Prospectus” or “Shelf Prospectus” or “Prospectus”).

(b) the name of the issuer company, date and place of its incorporation, its logo, address of its registered office, its telephone number, fax number, details of contact person, website address, e-mail address;

(c) the names of the promoters of the issuer company;

(d) the nature, number, price and amount of securities offered and issue size, as may be applicable;

(e) the aggregate amount proposed to be raised through all the stages of offers of specified securities made through the shelf prospectus;

(f) the name, logo and address of the registrar to the issue, along with its telephone number, fax number, website address and e-mail address;

(g) the issue schedule—

(i) date of opening of the issue;

(ii) date of closing of the issue;

(iii) date of earliest closing of the issue, if any.

(h) the credit rating, if applicable;

(i) all the grades obtained for the initial public offer;

(j) the name(s) of the recognised stock exchanges where the securities are proposed to be listed;

(k) the details about eligible investors;

(l) coupon rate, coupon payment frequency, redemption date, redemption amount and details of debenture trustee in case of debt securities.”

[8] Omitted by the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Amendment Rules, 2018 vide Notification No. File No. 1/21/2013- CL-V dated 7^th May, 2018.Prior to omission it read as under:

“Rule 6. Period for which information to be provided in certain cases.—For the matters specified in rules 3 to 5, which require a company to provide certain particulars or information relating to the preceding five financial years, it shall be sufficient compliance for a company which has not completed five years, if such company provides such particulars or information for all the previous years since its incorporation.”

[9]  Substituted for the word “registration” by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 vide Notification No. File No.1 /5/2019-CL-I dated 14th August, 2019.

[10] Omitted by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 vide Notification No. File No.1 /5/2019-CL-I dated 14th August, 2019. Prior to omission it read as under:

“(7) The Registrar shall not register a prospectus unless the requirements of this section with respect to its registration are complied with and the prospectus is accompanied by the consent in writing of all the persons named in the prospectus.”