Coronavirus outbreak: Sebi further relaxes compliance norms for listed firms

New Delhi, Mar 23 () Days after easing compliance norms for listed entities with regard to submission of fourth quarter and annual earnings, markets regulator Sebi on Monday further extended the relaxation to listed entities that have listed their debt securities such as non-convertible debentures and commercial papers.

In a circular, Sebi said it has decided to grant relaxation to listed entities that have listed their non-convertible debentures (NCDs), non-convertible redeemable preference shares (NCRPS) and commercial papers (CPs), as well as municipal debt securities, from certain compliance.

The regulator has extended the deadline by 45 days till June 30 for submitting half-yearly financial results for NCDs, NCRPS and CPs, while it has given a time period of another 30 days till June 30, for filing annual earnings.

The decision has been taken in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in many restrictions, including free movement of people, thereby hampering businesses and day-to-day functioning of the companies.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted about Sebi's move to ease the compliance requirement for listed companies.

"In an ongoing exercise to ease the compliance burden during the CoronavirusOutbreak, @SEBI_India has decided to relax some compliance provisions with regard to listed entities that have listed their NCDs, NCRPS, CPs and municipal debt securities," the finance minister said in a tweet.

Besides, the regulator has given a relaxation of 60 days till May 31 for companies planing to list their debt securities.

Under the norms, issuer has to submit its latest audited financials, which should not be older than six months. However, allowed to file unaudited financial with limited review for the sub period in the current financial year.

Further, the regulator has extended the deadline by 60 days and 45 days till June 30 for initial and final disclosures, respectively.

With regard to issuer of municipal bonds, Sebi has granted an extension of 30 days till June 30 for filing financial results and 45 days each for submitting half-yearly investor grievance report and quarterly report on accounts maintained by issuer.

The circular will come into force with immediate effect.

On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India gave a 45-day relaxation for companies to file their fourth-quarter results as well as an additional one-month time to submit their annual results. SP HRS