Sebi partially accepts Kotak panel recommendations on corp governance

Mumbai: Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday partially accepted the recommendations of Uday Kotak committee on corporate governance as well as reduced the additional expenses charged on mutual fund schemes.

During its meeting here, the Sebi board also cleared various proposals including allowing stock exchanges to introduce shared co-location facilities, strengthening equity derivatives market and amending takeover regulations.

At present, mutual funds are permitted to charge additional expenses of up to 20 basis points of the daily net assets of their schemes in lieu of the exit load credited in the scheme.

Based on data and the recommendations of Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC), the board has approved the proposal to reduce the maximum additional expense allowed for a scheme to 5 basis points, the regulator said in a release. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

Among the recommendations made by the Uday Kotak panel, Sebi has accepted around 40 of them without any modification. The accepted proposals include capping the maximum number of directorship in listed companies to seven by April 1, 2020.

Addressing the media after the board meeting, Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi said Sebi has decided to partially accept the committee's recommendations.

Out of the 80 odd recommendations, the watchdog would not be accepting around 18 of them. Besides, the regulator plans to amend takeover regulations, permit additional time for entities to increase open offer price.