Wednesday, January 25, 2012

SEBI imposes price bands for shares to curb manipulation in IPOs


The securities market regulator has made it tough for stock market operators to make stellar gains on the listing day of a share. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has imposed price bands for shares making their debut on the stock exchanges in its attempts to curb in initial public offerings (IPOs).

The regulator has decided to include IPOs in the pre-opening session on the stock exchanges. The normal trading session for stocks making their debut will start only after the conclusion of a one hour call auction session from 9.00 am to 10.00 am, Sebi said in a circular on Friday. A pre-call auction is a process of determining a stock's opening price.

The move is also a fallout of the recent investigation by the market regulator, where it found evidences of manipulation in some of the recent IPOs.

"If the regulator puts a circuit filter on the first day of listing, it will become difficult for the operators or market makers to get an easy exit fully on the first day," said Arun Kejriwal, director at KRIS, an investment advisory firm.

"Most of the volatility happens on the first day aimed at trapping retail investors or traders. The first day sees volume of over 10 times of the total shares offered in most cases, giving a clear indication of artificial trading and price manipulation," he said.

For IPO size up to Rs 250 crore, the price band in the normal trading session will be 5% of the equilibrium price that is discovered in the call auction, Sebi said. For an issue size of more than Rs 250 crore, the price band will be 20%.

However, if the equilibrium price is not discovered in the call auction, the price band in the normal trading session will be 5% and 20% of the issue price respectively, the circular said.

Besides, the trading will take place in trade for trade segment for the first 10 days from commencement of trading.

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