Lok Sabha approves Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill
08 Dec 2004
New
Delhi: The Lok Sabha has approved the Securities
Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2004, to provide for the corporatisation
and demutualisation of all recognised stock exchanges
in the country.
In his reply to the discussion on the bill, finance
minister P Chidambaram said that retail investors were
the 'driving force' of any stock market and the proposed
legislation would encourage their increased participation.
Chidambaram said that once the Bill becomes a law, all
stock exchanges would be required to submit a scheme
for corporatisation and demutualisation to the Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The scheme would
have to be submitted within a time frame specified by
the SEBI.
Earlier, in October, the government had amended the
Securities Contract (Regulation) Act (SCRA), 1956 through
an ordinance. The ordinance pertained not only to corporatisation
of the exchanges but also to setting up of 'clearing
corporations' and other changes in the functioning of
the exchanges itself in a new regime. All the exchanges,
including the Bombay Stock Exchange, will accordingly
have to submit reworked schemes in light of the amendments
made to the SCRA.
According
to the proposed amendments, the maximum broker representation
on the governing board of a recognised stock exchange
should not exceed a quarter of its total strength. An
earlier recommendation by the Kania Committee had stipulated
broker representation of 33 per cent.
The
ordinance also says that exchanges, which have approved
the scheme for demutualisation and corporatisation,
have to ensure that 51 per cent of the equity share
capital is held by the public, other than shareholders
having trading rights, within 12 months from the date
of publication of the order.
The amendments give a one-year time frame to the exchanges for offloading the 51 per cent stake to the public.
Through demutualisation, ownership, trading and management in a stock exchange are duly separated. This particular process was set into motion after the stock scam of March 2001 when the government stipulated that all stock exchanges would have to mandatorily go in for demutualisation within a specified timeframe. The intention behind the move was to prevent a conflict of interest with stockbrokers who may be too involved in the management of the stock exchanges.