In the wake of the Satyam Computers scam, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has made it compulsory for promoters to disclose to stock exchanges the details of their shares pledged with lenders.

The new rule will come into effect once the market regulator modifies existing guidelines to incorporate the new clause.

The details of disclosure, which should be made in two stages -- event-based and periodical -- will be notified shortly after amending the relevant regulations and listing agreements, SEBI Chairman C B Bhave said after a board meeting in Mumbai.

The event-based disclosure would have to be made at the time of pledging the shares, subject to certain limits. Under the periodic disclosure, the lender would have to disclose details of every single share pledged with lenders.

Addressing media persons after the board meet, SEBI chairman C B Bhave clarified that the regulator had questioned officials at Satyam Computer, other than chairman BV Raju, in connection with the fraud in the company.

The regulator also questioned the internal auditors and the company's banks. He admitted that SEBI had not yet been able to determine the true size of the scam.

It may be recalled that Satyam promoter Ramalinga Raju had pledged nearly all his shares – whose prices he had inflated by falsifying profits.

When the promoters were not able to meet their margin calls after the fall in the value of shares, the lenders sold the pledged shares in the market, which brought the promoters' stake in the company even lower to virtually negligible levels.

Bhave said the board meeting reviewed the progress made so far in the investigations in the matter of Satyam. He added, "It will be mandatory on the part of promoters, including a promoter group, to disclose the details of pledge of shares held by them in listed entities promoted by them."

The disclosure must include shares pledged by the promoters and the selling of the pledged shares by the lenders, if any.

Promoters will make the disclosure first to the company, which in turn would inform the public through stock exchanges.