To revitalise the primary issue segment, capital market regulator Sebi will soon announce guidelines to sell shares through electronic initial public offers (e-IPOs).
"We are trying to reform whole process. . .we will soon announce guidelines for e-IPOs. This will help in increasing the reach of distribution of IPOs," Sebi Whole-Time member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal said at an Assocham event in New Delhi.
An e-IPO is a mechanism through which investment in public offerings can be done online without signing any physical
documents.
e-IPOs will help in fast-track the public offer process and lower costs, besides allowing investors to apply for shares and buy them at a click on computers without the need for signature on bulky physical documents.
Though the e-IPO concept has been in the pipeline for some time, a formal decision could not be taken because of various regulatory issues.
In fact, the Sebi board was informed on November 24 that implementing an e-IPO requires amendments to the Companies Act, dispensing with the requirements of an investor to agree in writing to the offer, as there would be no physical form submission in a demat application.