SEBI halves IPO listing timeline to 6 days from Jan 2016

Come January 1, 2016, the time taken for listing of public issues after it has closed for subscription will be reduced from the existing 12 days to six days.

Announcing this in a circular on Tuesday, securities and commodities regulator SEBI, said that it would be applicable to issues opening on or after January 1, 2016.

Investors would now have the facility of submitting application form to subscribe to a public issue to banks, brokers, depository participants besides registrar and transfer agents. Earlier, forms could be submitted only through banks and brokers.

Making payments would also become easy for investors as SEBI has made the use of ASBA (application supported by blocked amount) compulsory for all categories of investors.

For investors, use of ASBA entails just writing their bank account numbers and authorising the banks to make payment in case of allotment by signing the application forms.

For investors, the benefit arises from the fact that their account is debited only to the extent of the amount for which they have been allotted shares. As a result issuing companies need not process refunds.