Manual Aims to Make Capital Formation More Robust and Faster
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, January 19, 2024: Association of Investment Bankers of India (AIBI), the investment bankers’ sole representative body to SEBI and various statutory authorities launched the Standard Practice Manual which is aimed at enhancing investor awareness, promoting financial literacy, and making capital formation more robust and efficient. This manual is based on SEBI’s standard observations on draft offer documents filed in the recent past.
While releasing AIBI’s standard observations manual, Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch, Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, said “SEBI is making conscious efforts to reduce the time involved in the approval process for public issuance offer documents. AIBI’s latest manual of standard practices and disclosures is a step in the right direction.”
To enhance the robustness of offer documents and reduce duplication, AIBI has compiled key takeaways from SEBI standard observations on recent draft offer documents. This initiative aims to streamline practices, ensuring strengthened governance and adherence to evolved practices in the interest of investors. This is expected to speed up the issue approval process and reduce the time involved.
Sharing details of the background and the process involved in the Manual, Mr. Mahavir Lunawat, Chairman, Association of Investment Bankers of India and MD, of Pantomath Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd shared that three months ago, AIBI set up a dedicated sub-committee ‘AIBI Standard Procedures and Manuals Committee’, represented by eight Board members who are merchant banking organizations (large and mid-sized). The objective was to update/prepare new documents for better diligence and standardize the practices and procedures. The process of preparation of the Manual included multiple consultations with a wide circle of merchant bankers and other stakeholders.
He said, “We are evaluating processes and disclosures such that we can attempt to make the process of capital formation more robust and efficient, given that our country is faced with significant requirements of capex. We would need more than 2 lakh Crores of equity capitalisation to channelise the domestic inflows and also to double our GDP by 2030.”
Mr. Prithvi Haldea, Advisor, AIBI, said, “This Manual is expected to strengthen disclosures in offer documents in the very first stage and at the same time lend certainty to issuers and merchants bankers about the specific details required in the approval process. Eventually, in my view, this should form part of the ICDR regulations.”
Association of Investment Bankers of India (AIBI) -
The Association of Investment Bankers of India (AIBI) is the investment bankers’ sole representative body to SEBI and various statutory authorities. AIBI is recognised by SEBI as a Designated Body for monitoring investor grievances relating to merchant bankers and bankers to issue. The Chairperson of AIBI represents Investment Bankers on the Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) of SEBI, and has been active in representing the members’ views, comments, and suggestions on various regulatory reforms pertaining to the capital markets.
