The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) hopes to allow investors to hold subscription amounts for initial share offerings in their bank accounts until allotment to cut the time between the stock sale and listing, its Chairman C B Bhave said.

Sebi hopes to take a decision in the next three months, he told reporters at a seminar on initial public offerings (IPO).“It is our belief that with the present technology available it is possible to earmark the amount in the investor account itself and not have the money actually transferred,” he said.

“For this we need to talk to different players involved to see that it is operationalised initially on a voluntary basis and so keep both options open and slowly push it,” he added. Mr Bhave said last month the board will review the IPO process to reduce the time between the sale and listing and make it more efficient.