JOIN USList in a week of closing IPO, Sebi tells companies
“The listing time should come down to seven days,” Sebi Chairman C B Bhave said here at an industry conference.
Bhave said that many things change during the time an IPO closes and the company finally lists on the bourses and therefore the investors get exposed to potential risks for a longer period. The regulator was looking to cut down the interim period between an IPO and the listing to seven days, from around 20 days currently, he added. A shorter gestation period would unlock money invested in IPOs faster, so that the money can be productively employed. Bhave also sought to lower the costs and risks associated with mutual fund investments so that the investors get benefited.
“We need to look at reducing the cost of mutual funds and risk of investors,” Bhave noted.
Over the past few months, a number of initiatives have been taken by Sebi towards bolstering the IPO and mutual fund segments.
“We believe the primary issuance process in India is not as efficient as the secondary market,” he said. The initiatives taken by Sebi in the past few months include opening up gates for longer trading hours for stock exchanges by allowing the bourses to extend market hours by around two-and-a-half hours between 9 am and 5 pm.