CAPITAL MARKETS Flashcards
(23 cards)
Section 23- Public Offer and Private Placement
(1) A public company may issue securities—
(a) to public through prospectus (herein referred to as “public offer”) by complying with the provisions of this Part; or
(b) through private placement by complying with the provisions of Part II of this Chapter; or
(c) through a rights issue or a bonus issue in accordance with the provisions of this Act and in case of a listed company or a company which intends to get its securities listed also with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992) and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
(2) A private company may issue securities—
(a) by way of rights issue or bonus issue in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or
(b) through private placement by complying with the provisions of Part II of this Chapter.
(3) Such class of public companies may issue such class of securities for the purposes of listing on permitted stock exchanges in permissible foreign jurisdictions or such other jurisdictions, as may be prescribed.
(4) The Central Government may, by notification, exempt any class or classes of public companies referred to in sub-section (3) from any of the provisions of this Chapter, Chapter IV, section 89, section 90 or section 127 and a copy of every such notification shall, as soon as may be after it is issued, be laid before both Houses of Parliament.]
Explanation.—For the purposes of this Chapter, “public offer” includes initial public offer or further public offer of securities to the public by a company, or an offer for sale of securities to the public by an existing shareholder, through issue of a prospectus.
Section 25- Document Containing Offer of Securities for Sale to be Deemed Prospectus
(1) Where a company allots or agrees to allot any securities of the company with a view to all or any of those securities being offered for sale to the public, any document by which the offer for sale to the public is made shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be a prospects issued by the company; and all enactments and rules of law as to the contents of prospects and as to liability in respect of mis-statements, in and omissions from, prospectus, or otherwise relating to prospectus, shall apply with the modifications specified in sub-sections (3) and (4) and shall have effect accordingly, as if the securities had been offered to the public for subscription and as if persons accepting the offer in respect of any securities were subscribers for those securities, but without prejudice to the liability, if any, of the persons by whom the offer is made in respect of mis-statements contained in the document or otherwise in respect thereof.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be evidence that an allotment of, or an agreement to allot, securities was made with a view to the securities being offered for sale to the public if it is shown—
(a) that an offer of the securities or of any of them for sale to the public was made within six months after the allotment or agreement to allot; or
(b) that at the date when the offer was made, the whole consideration to be received by the company in respect of the securities had not been received by it.
(3) Section 26 as applied by this section shall have effect as if —
(i) it required a prospectus to state in addition to the matters required by that section to be stated in a prospectus—
(a) the net amount of the consideration received or to be received by the company in respect of the securities to which the offer relates; and
(b) the time and place at which the contract where under the said securities have been or are to be allotted may be inspected;
(ii) the persons making the offer were persons named in a prospectus as Directors of a company.
(4) Where a person making an offer to which this section relates is a company or a firm, it shall be sufficient if the document referred to in sub-section (1) is signed on behalf of the company or firm by two Directors of the company or by not less than one-half of the partners in the firm, as the case may be.
Section 26-Matters to be Stated in Prospectus
(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 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.]–
(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;
(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 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 expertunless the expertis 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 [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 [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.
(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 fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to three lakh rupee.
Section 27-Variation in Terms of Contract or Objects in Prospectus
(1) A company shall not, at any time, vary the terms of a contract referred to in the prospectus or objects for which the prospectus was issued, except subject to the approval of, or except subject to an authority given by the company in general meeting by way of special resolution:
Provided that the details, as may be prescribed, of the notice in respect of such resolution to shareholders, shall also be published in the newspapers (one in English and one in vernacular language) in the city where the registered office of the company is situated indicating clearly the justification for such variation:
Provided further that such company shall not use any amount raised by it through prospectus for buying, trading or otherwise dealing in equity shares of any other listed company.
(2) The dissenting shareholders being those shareholders who have not agreed to the proposal to vary the terms of contracts or objects referred to in the prospectus, shall be given an exit offer by promoters or controlling shareholders at such exit price, and in such manner and conditions as may be specified by the Securities and Exchange Board by making regulations in this behalf.
Section 28- Offer of Sale of Shares by Certain Members of Company
(1) Where certain members of a company propose, in consultation with the Board of Directors to offer, in accordance with the provisions of any law for the time being in force, whole or part of their holding of shares to the public, they may do so in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed.
(2) Any document by which the offer of sale to the public is made shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be a prospectus issued by the company and all laws and rules made thereunder as to the contents of the prospectus and as to liability in respect of mis-statements in and omission from prospectus or otherwise relating to prospectus shall apply as if this is a prospectus issued by the company.
(3) The members, whether individuals or bodies corporate or both, whose shares are proposed to be offered to the public, shall collectively authorise the company, whose shares are offered for sale to the public, to take all actions in respect of offer of sale for and on their behalf and they shall reimburse the company all expenses incurred by it on this matter.
Section 29-Public Offer of Securities to be in Dematerialised Form.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act,—
(a) every company making public offer; and
(b) such other class or classes of 1[public] companies as may be prescribed, shall issue the securities only in dematerialised form by complying with the provisions of the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996) and the regulations made thereunder.
(1A) In case of such class or classes of unlisted companies as may be prescribed, the securities shall be held or transferred only in dematerialised form in the manner laid down in the Depositories Act, 1996 and the regulations made thereunder.]
(2) Any company, other than a company mentioned in sub-section (1), may convert its securities into dematerialised form or issue its securities in physical form in accordance with the provisions of this Act or in dematerialised form in accordance with the provisions of the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996) and the regulations made thereunder.
Section 30- Advertisement of Prospects
Where an advertisement of any prospectus of a company is published in any manner, it shall be necessary to specify therein the contents of its memorandum as regards the objects, the liability of members and the amount of share capital of the company, and the names of the signatories to the memorandum and the number of shares subscribed for by them, and its capital structure.
Section 31-Shelf Prospectus.
(1) Any class or classes of companies, as the Securities and Exchange Board may provide by regulations in this behalf, may file a shelf prospectus with the Registrar at the stage of the first offer of securities included therein which shall indicate a period not exceeding one year as the period of validity of such prospectus which shall commence from the date of opening of the first offer of securities under that prospectus, and in respect of a second or subsequent offer of such securities issued during the period of validity of that prospectus, no further prospectus is required.
(2) A company filing a shelf prospectus shall be required to file an information memorandum containing all material facts relating to new charges created, changes in the financial position of the company as have occurred between the first offer of securities or the previous offer of securities and the succeeding offer of securities and such other changes as may be prescribed, with the Registrar within the prescribed time, prior to the issue of a second or subsequent offer of securities under the shelf prospectus:
Provided that where a company or any other person has received applications for the allotment of securities along with advance payments of subscription before the making of any such change, the company or other person shall intimate the changes to such applicants and if they express a desire to withdraw their application, the company or other person shall refund all the monies received as subscription within fifteen days thereof.
(3) Where an information memorandum is filed, every time an offer of securities is made under sub-section (2), such memorandum together with the shelf prospectus shall be deemed to be a prospectus.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the expression “shelf prospectus” means a prospectus in respect of which the securities or class of securities included therein are issued for subscription in one or more issues over a certain period without the issue of a further prospectus.
Section 32- Red Herring Prospectus
(1) A company proposing to make an offer of securities may issue a red herring prospectus prior to the issue of a prospectus.
(2) A company proposing to issue a red herring prospectus under sub-section (1) shall file it with the Registrar at least three days prior to the opening of the subscription list and the offer.
(3) A red herring prospectus shall carry the same obligations as are applicable to a prospectus and any variation between the red herring prospectus and a prospectus shall be highlighted as variations in the prospectus.
(4) Upon the closing of the offer of securities under this section, the prospectus stating therein the total capital raised, whether by way of debt or share capital, and the closing price of the securities and any other details as are not included in the red herring prospectus shall be filed with the Registrar and the Securities and Exchange Board.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the expression “red herring prospectus” means a prospectus which does not include complete particulars of the quantum or price of the securities included therein.
Section 33- Issue of Application Forms for Securities.
(1) No form of application for the purchase of any of the securities of a company shall be issued unless such form is accompanied by an abridged prospectus:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply if it is shown that the form of application was issued—
(a) in connection with a bona fide invitation to a person to enter into an underwriting agreement with respect to such securities; or
(b) in relation to securities which were not offered to the public.
(2) A copy of the prospectus shall, on a request being made by any person before the closing of the subscription list and the offer, be furnished to him.
(3) If a company makes any default in complying with the provisions of this section, it shall be liable to a penalty of fifty thousand rupees for each default.
Section 34- Criminal Liability for Mis-statements in Prospectus
Where a prospectus, issued, circulated or distributed under this Chapter, includes any statement which is untrue or misleading in form or context in which it is included or where any inclusion or omission of any matter is likely to mislead, every person who authorizes the issue of such prospectus shall be liable under section 447:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to a person if he proves that such statement or omission was immaterial or that he had reasonable grounds to believe, and did up to the time of issue of the prospectus believe, that the statement was true or the inclusion or omission was necessary.
Section 35-Civil Liability for Mis-statements in Prospectus
(1) Where a person has subscribed for securities of a company acting on any statement included, or the inclusion or omission of any matter, in the prospectus which is misleading and has sustained any loss or damage as a consequence thereof, the company and every person who—
(a) is a director of the company at the time of the issue of the prospectus;
(b) has authorised himself to be named and is named in the prospectus as a director of the company, or has agreed to become such director, either immediately or after an interval of time;
(c) is a promoter of the company;
(d) has authorised the issue of the prospectus; and
(e) is an expert referred to in sub-section (5) of section 26,
shall, without prejudice to any punishment to which any person may be liable under section 36, be liable to pay compensation to every person who has sustained such loss or damage.
(2) No person shall be liable under sub-section (1), if he proves—
(a) that, having consented to become a director of the company, he withdrew his consent before the issue of the prospectus, and that it was issued without his authority or consent; or
(b) that the prospectus was issued without his knowledge or consent, and that on becoming aware of its issue, he forthwith gave a reasonable public notice that it was issued without his knowledge or consent.
[(c) that, as regards every misleading statement purported to be made by an expertor contained in what purports to be a copy of or an extract from a report or valuation of an expert, it was a correct and fair representation of the statement, or a correct copy of, or a correct and fair extract from, the report or valuation; and he had reasonable ground to believe and did up to the time of the issue of the prospects believe, that the person making the statement was competent to make it and that the said person had given the consent required by sub-section (5) of section 26 to the issue of the prospects and had not withdrawn that consent before 2[filing of a copy of the prospects with the Registrar] or, to the defendant’s knowledge, before allotment thereunder.]
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where it is proved that a prospectus has been issued with intent to defraud the applicants for the securities of a company or any other person or for any fraudulent purpose, every person referred to in sub-section (1) shall be personally responsible, without any limitation of liability, for all or any of the losses or damages that may have been incurred by any person who subscribed to the securities on the basis of such prospectus.
Section 36-Punishment for Fraudulently Inducing Persons to Invest Money
Any person who, either knowingly or recklessly makes any statement, promise or forecast which is false, deceptive or misleading, or deliberately conceals any material facts, to induce another person to enter into, or to offer to enter into,—
(a) any agreement for, or with a view to, acquiring, disposing of, subscribing for, or underwriting securities; or
(b) any agreement, the purpose or the pretended purpose of which is to secure a profit to any of the parties from the yield of securities or by reference to fluctuations in the value of securities; or
(c) any agreement for, or with a view to, obtaining credit facilities from any bank or financial institution,
shall be liable for action under section 447.
Section 38-Punishment for Personation for Acquisition, etc., of Securities.
(1) Any person who—
(a) makes or abets making of an application in a fictitious name to a company for acquiring, or subscribing for, its securities; or
(b) makes or abets making of multiple applications to a company in different names or in different combinations of his name or surname for acquiring or subscribing for its securities; or
(c) otherwise induces directly or indirectly a company to allot, or register any transfer of, securities to him, or to any other person in a fictitious name,
shall be liable for action under section 447.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall be prominently reproduced in every prospectus issued by a company and in every form of application for securities.
(3) Where a person has been convicted under this section, the Court may also order disgorgement of gain, if any, made by, and seizure and disposal of the securities in possession of, such person.
(4) The amount received through disgorgement or disposal of securities under sub-section (3) shall be credited to the Investor Education and Protection Fund.
Section 39- Allotment of Securities by Company
(1) No allotment of any securities of a company offered to the public for subscription shall be made unless the amount stated in the prospects as the minimum amount has been subscribed and the sums payable on application for the amount so stated have been paid to and received by the company by cheque or other instrument.
(2) The amount payable on application on every security shall not be less than five per cent of the nominal amount of the security or such other percentage or amount, as may be specified by the Securities and Exchange Board by making regulations in this behalf.
(3) If the stated minimum amount has not been subscribed and the sum payable on application is not received within a period of thirty days from the date of issue of the prospectus, or such other period as may be specified by the Securities and Exchange Board, the amount received under sub-section (1) shall be returned within such time and manner as may be prescribed.
(4) Whenever a company having a share capital makes any allotment of securities, it shall file with the Registrar a return of allotment in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5) In case of any default under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4), the company and its officer who is in default shall be liable to a penalty, for each default, of one thousand rupees for each day during which such default continues or one lakh rupees, whichever is less.
Definition of Promoter- Section 2(oo) of SEBI (ICDR) Regulations 2021
“promoter” shall include a person:
i) who has been named as such in a draft offer document or offer document or is identified by the issuer in the annual return referred to in section 92 of the Companies
Act, 2013; or
ii) who has control over the affairs of the issuer, directly or indirectly whether as a shareholder, director or otherwise; or
iii) in accordance with whose advice, directions or instructions the board of directors of the issuer is accustomed to act:
Provided that nothing in sub-clause (iii) shall apply to a person who is acting merely in a professional capacity;
Entities not eligible to make an initial public offer- Regulation 5 of SEBI (ICDR)
(1) An issuer shall not be eligible to make an initial public offer -
(a) if the issuer, any of its promoters, promoter group or directors or selling shareholders are debarred from accessing the capital market by the Board.
(b) if any of the promoters or directors of the issuer is a promoter or director of any other company which is debarred from accessing the capital market by the Board.
(c) if the issuer or any of its promoters or directors is a wilful defaulter or a fraudulent borrower.
(d) if any of its promoters or directors is a fugitive economic offender.
(2) An issuer shall not be eligible to make an initial public offer if there are any outstanding convertible securities or any other right which would entitle any person with any option to receive equity shares of the issuer
Eligibility requirements for an initial public offer- Regulation 6 of SEBI (ICDR)
(1) An issuer shall be eligible to make an initial public offer only if:
a) it has net tangible assets of at least three crore rupees, calculated on a restated and consolidated basis, in each of the preceding three full years (of twelve months each), of
which not more than fifty per cent. are held in monetary assets:
b) it has an average operating profit of at least fifteen crore rupees, calculated on a restated and consolidated basis, during the preceding three years (of twelve months each), with operating profit in each of these preceding three years;
c) it has a net worth of at least one crore rupees in each of the preceding three full years (of twelve months each), calculated on a restated and consolidated basis;
d) if it has changed its name within the last one year, at least fifty per cent. of the revenue, calculated on a restated and consolidated basis, for the preceding one full year has been earned by it from the activity indicated by its new name.
Lead Manager
“lead manager” means a merchant banker registered with the Board and appointed by the issuer to manage the issue and in case of a book built issue, the lead manager(s) appointed by the issuer shall act as the book running lead manager(s) for the purposes of book building.
Board of Directors- Regulation 17 SEBI (LODR)
(1) The composition of board of directors of the listed entity shall be as follows:
(a) board of directors shall have an optimum combination of executive and non- executive directors with at least one woman director and not less than fifty per cent. of the board of directors shall comprise of non-executive directors;
Provided that the Board of directors of the top 1000 listed entities shall have at least one independent woman director.
(b) where the chairperson of the board of directors is a non-executive director, at least one-third of the board of directors shall comprise of independent directors and where the listed entity does not have a regular non-executive chairperson, at least half of the board of directors shall comprise of independent directors:
Provided that where the regular non-executive chairperson is a promoter of the listed entity or is related to any promoter or person occupying management positions at the level of board of director or at one level below the board of directors, at least half of the board of directors of the listed entity shall consist of independent directors.
(c) The board of directors of the top 2000 listed entities shall comprise of not less than six directors.
(1A) No listed entity shall appoint a person or continue the directorship of any person as a non-executive director who has attained the age of seventy five years unless a special resolution is passed to that effect, in which case the explanatory statement annexed to the notice for such motion shall indicate the justification for appointing such a person.
Maximum number of directorships- Regulation 17-A of SEBI (LODR)
The directors of listed entities shall comply with the following conditions with respect to the maximum number of directorships, including any alternate directorships that can be
held by them at any point of time -
(1) A person shall not be a director in more than eight listed entities with effect from April 1, 2019 and in not more than seven listed entities with effect from April 1, 2020:
Provided that a person shall not serve as an independent director in more than seven listed entities.
(2) Notwithstanding the above, any person who is serving as a whole time director/managing director in any listed entity shall serve as an independent director in not
more than three listed entities.
Audit Commitee- Regulation 18 of SEBI (LODR)
(1) Every listed entity shall constitute a qualified and independent audit committee in accordance with the terms of reference, subject to the following:
(a) The audit committee shall have minimum three directors as members.
(b) At least two-thirds of the members of audit committee shall be independent directors and in case of a listed entity having outstanding SR equity shares, the audit committee shall only comprise of independent directors.
(c) All members of audit committee shall be financially literate and at least one member shall have accounting or related financial management expertise.
(d) The chairperson of the audit committee shall be an independent director and he/she shall be present at Annual general meeting to answer shareholder queries.
(e) The Company Secretary shall act as the secretary to the audit committee.
(f) The audit committee at its discretion shall invite the finance director or head of the finance function, head of internal audit and a representative of the statutory auditor and any other such executives to be present at the meetings of the committee:
Provided that occasionally the audit committee may meet without the presence of any executives of the listed entity.
(2) The listed entity shall conduct the meetings of the audit committee in the following manner:
(a) The audit committee shall meet at least four times in a financial year and not more than one hundred and twenty days shall elapse between two consecutive meetings.
(b) The quorum for audit committee meeting shall either be two members or one third of the members of the audit committee, whichever is greater, with at least two independent directors.
(c) The audit committee shall have powers to investigate any activity within its terms of reference, seek information from any employee, obtain outside legal or other professional advice and secure attendance of outsiders with relevant expertise, if it
considers necessary.
Stakeholders Relationship Committee -Regulation 20 SEBI (LODR)
(1) The listed entity shall constitute a Stakeholders Relationship Committee to specifically look into various aspects of interest of shareholders, debenture holders and other security holders.
(2) The chairperson of this committee shall be a non-executive director.
(2A) At least three directors, with at least one being an independent director, shall be members of the Committee and in case of a listed entity having outstanding SR equity
shares, at least two thirds of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee shall comprise of independent directors.
(3) The Chairperson of the Stakeholders Relationship Committee shall be present at the annual general meetings to answer queries of the security holders.]
(3A) The stakeholders relationship committee shall meet at least once in a financial year.