Consultation Paper on Proposed IFSCA (Issuance and Listing
of Securities) Regulations, 2021
[MoF
Press Release/10.03.2021]
International Financial Services Centres
Authority (IFSCA) has been established as a unified
regulator to develop and regulate financial products, financial services and
financial institutions in the International Financial Service Centres (IFSCs) in India.
IFSCA, in its endeavour to develop
a comprehensive and consistent regulatory framework based on global best
practices with a special focus on ease of doing business, proposes to enact an all-encompassing
framework to facilitate issuers’ access Global capital. Towards this
objective, IFSCA proposes a unified regulatory framework specifying the
requirements for (i) issuance and listing of various
types of securities and (ii) initial and continuous disclosures.
To ensure that capital markets in IFSCs support the
financing of innovative business models especially those in the areas of
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), fin-tech, corporate restructurings,
etc., the framework proposed by IFSCA also provides for issuance and listing of
securities by Start-ups, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Special
Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). Further, enabling framework has been
proposed for issuance and listing of debt securities including those
focusing on ESG and Smart-Cities.
The Union Budget for the financial year 2021-22, has
detailed setting up of a ‘world-class’ fintech hub
at GIFT City in a bid to bolster innovation in the fintech
industry. The proposed framework by IFSCA is expected
to provide an ecosystem for capital raising and listing by Fintech and other
start-up companies.
Globally, Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) has
become an important structure to raise capital through IPO for acquiring
companies or assets. To keep pace with the evolving market environment,
IFSCA is proposing a suitable framework for capital raising and listing of SPAC
on the recognised stock exchanges in IFSCs.
Considering the important role of Capital markets in
bridging the gap between investors and issuers of green bonds, social bonds,
sustainable bonds and sustainability linked bonds, IFSCA
aims to make IFSC at GIFT City a prominent international centre
for sustainable finance. The proposed framework by IFSCA is
expected to support the needs for Environment, Social and Governance financing.
The proposed framework shall facilitate issuers from across
the jurisdictions to raise capital for variety of needs and list their
securities at the international stock exchanges in IFSCs.
The draft IFSCA (Issuance and Listing of Securities)
Regulations, 2021 have been uploaded on IFSCA website at
https://ifsca.gov.in/PublicConsultation.
The comments and suggestions from public on proposed
regulations may be sent latest by March 31, 2021.