The SEBI Board met in Mumbai today and took the following decisions:
1. Amendment to the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 Illegal mobilization of money by unregistered Collective Investment Schemes
The Board has approved the proposal to declare illegal mobilization of funds without obtaining a certificate under the SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999 as a fraudulent and unfair trade practice. As such, it has been decided to amend the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003, accordingly. This amendment has been made to impose deterrent adjudication penalties on unregistered CIS entities mobilizing money.
2. Clarificatory Amendment to the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Markets) Regulations, 2003
The Board has approved the proposal to bring a clarificatory amendment to the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003 in order to clarify that the list under regulation 4(2) is not exhaustive and the general provisions of regulation 3 will override.
3. Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013
The Board took note of the provisions of the Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 promulgated by President of India on July 18, 2013 and discussed the follow-up actions on the part of SEBI.
4. Independent Consultant
SEBI had engaged an independent consultant to revisit the structural and organizational issues, re-prioritise areas of focus and to look at the technological and manpower needs of SEBI. The Consultant submitted its recommendation before the Board which, inter-alia, included greater focus on mobilizing household savings into capital market assets, enhanced focus on supervisory functions, oversight of listed companies, re-organisation of functional departments, increase in manpower, IT strategy for organizational efficiency and improving training and performance management system. The Board accepted the recommendations and agreed on the implementation plan for the same.
