SEBI Updates: SEBI reviews mechanism of dividend adjustment for stock option

SEBI on 05^th July, 2018, issued a Circularfor reviewing the mechanism of dividend adjustment for stock options and allowed alteration in strike price.

According to the SEBI, adjustment in strike price will be carried out in case dividend declared by a company is above 5 per cent of the underlying stocks. Besides, adjustment in strike price will be done in all other cases of dividend, wherein listed company has sought exemption from the timeline prescribed under listing and disclosure regulations, SEBI said in a circular.

According to the SEBI, adjustment in strike price will be carried out in case dividend declared by a company is above 5 per cent of the underlying stocks. Besides, adjustment in strike price will be done in all other cases of dividend, wherein listed company has sought exemption from the timeline prescribed under listing and disclosure regulations, SEBI said in a circular.

Strike price, in market parlance, is the price at which a derivative contract can be exercised. It is mainly used to describe stock and index options. For call options, the strike price is where the security can be purchased by the option buyer up till the expiration date. For put options, the strike price is the price at which shares can be sold by the option buyer.

Copy of Circular can be accessed below.

SEBI Updates: SEBI raises overseas investment limit of AIFs and VCFs

SEBI by issuing a Circular dated 03rd July, 2018 enhanced the overseas investment limit of Alternative Investment Fund (AIFs) and Venture Capital Fund (VCFs) to USD 750 million from the current USD 500 million

The decision has been taken in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in a circular. In order to monitor the utilisation of overseas investment limits, SEBI has asked AIFs and VCFs to mandatorily disclose the utilisation of the such limits within 5 working days of such usage on the regulator's intermediary portal. 

In case an alternative investment fund (AIF) or venture capital fund (VCF) has not utilised the overseas limit granted them within 6 months from SEBI's approval, the same will have to be reported within 2 working days after expiry of the validity period. 

"In case an AIF or VCF has not utilized a part of the overseas limit within the validity period, the same shall be reported within 2 working days after expiry of the validity period," the regulator noted.

Further, if an AIF or VCF wishes to surrender the overseas limit at any point of time within the validity period, the same will have to be reported within two working days from the date of decision to surrender the limit, it added. The regulator said it has decided to enhance the overseas investment limit of AIFs and VCFs to USD 750 million. 

Earlier in October 2015, the regulator had allowed overseas investment by AIFs and VCFs to the extent of USD 500 million.

AIFs are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy, while VCFs are investment funds that manage the money of investors who seek private equity stakes in startups.

Copy of Circular can be accessed below:

Source: Economic Times

SEBI Updates: Filing of Term Sheet by Angel Funds

Angel funds will have to disclose details related to investment as well as venture capital undertakings and "material changes", within 10 days of launching a scheme, markets regulator SEBI said.

Releasing the format of the term sheet, the regulator said that angel fund can launch new schemes, subject to the filing of the term sheet, it needs to contain material information and have to be filed with SEBI within 10 days of launching the scheme. The term sheet has three categories — information related to investment and investee company; compliance with SEBI’s AIF regulation; and “material change”, the regulator said in a circular.

Angel Funds, a sub-category Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), encourage entrepreneurship by financing small startups at a stage when they find it difficult to obtain capital from traditional sources of finance such as banks and financial institutions. The markets regulator, last month, had replaced the requirement of filing of scheme memorandum to SEBI by angel funds with the requirement of filing term sheet containing material information.

Now, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released the format of the term sheet. With regard to investment and investee firm, information pertaining to name of the angel fund as well as scheme, name of the investee company, services offered by it, its business details, present investment size, investment highlight, total capital commitment by investors, capital drawn by the fund, price per share, details of lock in for share and exit strategy for angel fund among others need to be divulged.

Further, the term sheet will also have information pertaining to list of investors in the scheme and compliance with the AIF rules, whether the fund has corpus of Rs 5 crore and whether the funds have been raised through private placement among others. Besides, angel fund will have to submit details of material changes, rationale for such change and date of approval from SEBI in this regard.

Besides, the regulator has raised the maximum period of accepting funds from an angel investor to five years, from three years. The move will provide angel funds more time to identify opportunities and invest in venture capital firms. Earlier, SEBI had formed a working group comprising various angel networks, consultants and start-ups in a bid to provide ease of doing business for angel funds.

Copy of Circular can be accessed below:

Source: Financial Express