Sebi asks RTAs, merchant bankers to disclose investor charter

NEW DELHI: Markets regulator Sebi on Friday directed registrar and share transfer agents (RTAs) and merchant bankers to disclose investor charter as well as data pertaining to complaints they received on their websites.

The regulator has listed various categories for which investor charter needs to be disclosed by merchant bankers.

The new guidelines will come into effect from January 1, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in four separate circulars.

With a view to providing investors relevant information about the primary market issuances in the debt market, municipal debt securities as well as issuance by real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), an investor charter has been prepared by Sebi in consultation with merchant bankers.

Also, the regulator has developed an investor charter for RTAs detailing the services provided to investors, rights of investors, various activities of RTAs with timelines, dos and don’ts for investors and grievance redressal mechanism.

This charter is a brief document containing different services to investors at one single place for ease of reference.

Sebi has asked merchant bankers to disclose on their websites, the investor charter for public offer of units by REITs, as well as InvITs and private placements of municipal debt securities.

The other categories for which investor charter needs to be disclosed by merchant bankers are — public issue of debt securities, public issue of non-convertible redeemable preference shares; and private placement of debt securities and non-convertible redeemable preference shares.