Revisiting the amendments carried out in calendar year 2024 by the Securities Exchange Board of India to issuance and listing of non-convertible securities
With only one more page left to be turned in this year's calendar, it felt worthwhile to touch upon the various amendments that the SEBI Securities Exchange Board of India ("SEBI") has brought about to one of the most relevant pieces of regulation for debt market participants i.e., the SEBI (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) Regulations, 2021 ("NCS Regulations").
Since the inception of the NCS Regulations, SEBI has implemented several amendments, either as a response to concerns flagged by market participants, or to smoothen operations. The amendments brought about in 2024 are along the same lines and deal with principally streamlining the various disclosures and timelines for various operational processes. In Part A of this Prism, we have provided a concise mark-up showing the changes to the NCS Regulations along with brief remarks in relation thereto.
Further, SEBI had also issued various circulars in relation to specific operational processes including for which the NCS Regulations provided the basic framework. As these were also amended and supplemented by additional circulars of SEBI from time to time, in May 2024, SEBI came up with the master circular for issue and listing of Non-convertible Securities, Securitised Debt Instruments, Security Receipts, Municipal Debt Securities and Commercial Paper ("NCS Master Circular") which repealed all the previous circulars issued in connection with the NCS Regulations. The NCS Master Circular was also amended in 2024 to further streamline certain operational changes. In Part B of this Prism, we have provided a concise mark-up showing the changes to the NCS Master Circular along with brief remarks in relation thereto.
Part A: NCS Regulations
SEBI, vide circulars dated July 8, 2024 (with effect from July 10, 2024), and September 17, 2024 (with effect from September 18, 2024), SEBI made the following amendments:
For efficacy of reference, we have set out the changes to the NCS Regulations in the form of a table, whereby deletions are highlighted in 'red', and 'strikethrough' and insertions are highlighted in blue:
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
