Sebi panel to set foreign investment norms

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday said it has set up a committee under ex-cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekhar to frame a single set of guidelines for all types of foreign investors.

It will suggest ways to simplify the investment process for all overseas entities ranging across foreign institutional investors (FIIs), foreign venture capital investors (FVCIs), qualified financial/institutional investors (QFIs), and non-resident Indians (NRIs) among others and also to strengthen surveillance over them, according to Sebi Chairman U K Sinha.

Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of 4th Capital Markets Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here, Sinha asked, “Why should we have various routes for foreign investment? Why should we have sub-accounts, ODIs, FIIs and QFIs and NRIs and all that? In consultation with the government, we have decided to combine these various routes which are present today into one single route.”

“We set up a committee under former Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar to look into this three-four days ago,” Sinha said.