SEBI on Delay in Payment Related to Debt Securities
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has proposed that all listed companies are expected to disclose any delay in payment related to debt securities within 24 hours of the happening of such an event. This proposal comes in the backdrop of various instances regarding non-compliance with listing norms by the issuers of non-convertible redeemable preference shares (“NCRP”) and non-convertible debt securities (“NCD”).
The disclosures thus made must have the requisite details regarding the nature of the NCRP’s or NCD’s, status update with respect to reference to the NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (“IBC”) as well as the periodic ratings secured from the credit rating agencies.
This proposal by SEBI will benefit the stakeholders from obtaining crucial information regarding the NCD’s or NCRP’s which would consequently affect the investment decisions of the investors.
IIM-A Launches New Initiative to Fund Start-Ups
The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (“IIMA”) Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (“CIIE”) launched a USD 25 million ‘Bharat Inclusion Initiative’ program. This initiative will aim to mentor and invest in start-ups in the early stage and seed segment over the next three to four years. IIE’s ‘Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund’ has also set aside USD 22.5 million to help early stage start-ups operating in areas such as livelihood, agriculture, financial inclusion, education and health.
In addition, CIIE has set aside USD 5 million for providing strategic mentorships to start ups by way of business partnerships, workshops and acceleration programmes, and all insights and research obtained under such partnerships will be disseminated in a fair and open manner. The objective of this initiative is to provide a continuum of solutions to entrepreneurs across the pre-incubation, seed and scale-up stage and help them take their enterprise to the next level.