SEBI Looking To Allow ‘When-Listed’ Securities Trading: Madhabi Puri Buch

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said at an event that the regulator is actively looking at allowing ‘when-listed’ securities to trade on the country’s stock exchanges

When-listed’ securities refer to those securities that are available for trading between the close of a company’s IPO and before its listing

The chairperson said that there is a lot of interest in investors for trading these shares

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India is looking to allow trading of shares of companies on the stock exchanges after the close of their initial public offerings (IPO).

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said at an event that the regulator is actively looking at allowing ‘when-listed’ securities to trade on the country’s stock exchanges, Reuters reported. 

‘When-listed’ securities refer to those securities that are available for trading between the close of a company’s IPO and before its listing. However, there isn’t any official provision to allow this trade as of now. 

The chairperson said that there is a lot of interest in investors for trading these shares. “We feel that if investors want to do that, why not give them that opportunity in a proper, regulated way,” she added.

The statement from the SEBI chairperson comes at a time when India is witnessing a IPO boom since last year. 

As per Market Intelligence data, the overall IPO count grew over 22% to 298 by December 3, 2024 from 243 in the entirety of 2023. 

Fundraising volume saw an even more dramatic increase, jumping 139% to INR 1.41 Lakh Cr from INR 58,827 Cr in the previous year. 

On similar lines, the number of IPOs of new-age tech companies surged to 13 from just five in 2023.

This consideration of SEBI is the latest addition to the list of its attempts at mitigating the influence of the grey market, which often operates in parallel to official trading platforms. 

(The story will be updated soon.)