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Securities law update: Accessing the public markets in a pandemic
April 23, 2020Accessing the Public Markets in a Pandemic
Background
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has issued circulars dated April 21, 2020 introducing temporary relaxations in the provisions related to Rights Issues (“Circular I”) as contained in the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (“SEBI ICDR Regulations”) and extending the validity of regulatory approval for launching initial public offering and rights issue by six months, and granting the flexibility to change the fresh issue size (“Circular II” and together with Circular I, “SEBI Circulars”) in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. These steps came following the representations from various industry bodies and market participants for easing of conditions relating to raising of funds from the securities market amidst the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
