SEBI recently published the SEBI (Attestation of Documents) (Amendment) Regulations, which resulted in the amendment of many of its previous regulations to simplify and streamline the requirement for attestation. Further, the requirement for an affidavit has been relaxed with this amendment.
Key Amendments
The Amendment prescribes introducing the regime of "self-attestation," replacing the requirement of "attestation by a public notary." Further, the requirement of sworn affidavit has also been waived by this amendment. The amendment is primarily aimed at facilitating the ease of registration for the Intermediaries and exemption from the applicability of certain regulations for the listed companies.
Ease of registration:
Previously, the entities seeking a grant of registration from SEBI were required to submit the application along with requisite documents, and these documents were required to be "attested by notary public". With the amendment in force, the entities are now required to submit "self-attested" documents.
This will streamline the registration for the following entities namely, Custodian, Credit Rating Agencies, Know your Customer Registration Agency, Depositories, Participants and Index Providers.
Relaxation in seeking exemption:
Previously, the listed companies seeking exemptions from the application of certain regulations of SEBI were required to file a "sworn-in affidavit" along with the Application for seeking registration. With the amendment in force, the listed entities are now required to file only a "self-attested application" with the SEBI to seek exemption. Thus, the requirement of submitting a sworn-in affidavit has been eliminated by this amendment.
The mechanism outlined above for seeking exemption shall be operative for the following regulations, namely, SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares & Takeovers) Regulations, 2011, SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 2018, and SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2021.
Similarly, with this amendment, the undertakings required to be submitted under the SEBI (Settlement Proceedings), 2018 shall be accompanied by a "self-attested application" with stamp duty, deviating from the requirement of duly notarized application.
MHCO Comment:
The amendment aims to promote the ease of business regime in the operation of capital markets. However, with this amendment, the onus of ensuring the veracity of these applications and documents now rests with SEBI. Hence, it is imperative that transparency is upheld by the entities seeking registration and the listed entities seeking exemptions.
This article was released on 10 December 2024.
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.
