New Delhi | Markets regulator Sebi has extended the registration validity for not-for-profit organisations on the Social Stock Exchange, allowing their enrolment as NPOs for three years without raising funds, and lowered the minimum subscription requirement for issuing Zero Coupon Zero Principal Instruments (ZCZP).
The moves are aimed at promoting the SSE (Social Stock Exchange) and facilitating ease of fundraising and encouraging greater participation by NPOs, Sebi said in its circular on Wednesday.
Sebi has extended the validity period to three years from the existing two years, during which NPOs can remain registered on the SSE without raising funds.
Sebi has taken into account practical challenges faced by NPOs, including delays in statutory and regulatory approvals.
"It is being specified that a NPO may register on a SSE and not raise funds through it for a period of two years from the date of registration. Such period of two years may be further extended by one additional years subject to approval by the SSE," Sebi said.
Additionally, the regulator has lowered the minimum subscription requirement for Zero Coupon Zero Principal instruments to 50 per cent from 75 per cent to enhance fundraising flexibility for NPOs.
This relaxation would apply only to projects where costs and outcomes can be implemented on a clearly identifiable per-unit basis, ensuring that partial subscription does not adversely affect project execution, Sebi said.
In such cases, SSEs would be required to carry out due diligence to ensure that funds raised at the lower subscription threshold can still be meaningfully deployed towards the stated objectives. Also, the regulator said that funds would be refunded to investors if the minimum subscription requirement is not met.
"The minimum subscription required to be achieved shall be 75 per cent of the funds proposed to be raised through issuance of ZCZP: Provided that the minimum subscription required to be achieved shall be 50 per cent in case where the funds raised can be deployed, so as to be aligned with the disclosed object of the issue in a manner that the implementation of the project remains viable and meaningful," Sebi said.
"For this, the SSE shall, prior to granting in-principle approval for such partial fundraising, undertake due diligence to satisfy themselves that the funds raised towards the object(s) are capable of being deployed in a meaningful manner, taking into consideration the subscription scenarios disclosed in the fundraising document," it added.
In March, the Sebi board approved a proposal to sharply reduce the minimum investment required from individual investors in social impact funds to Rs 1,000 from the existing Rs 2 lakh, in a bid to widen retail participation and ease fundraising for NPOs on the SSE.
