The Securities and Exchange Board of India vide its circular dated 14th May 2020 has relaxed the 25% minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms for listed companies in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
SEBI has decided to grant relaxation from the applicability of minimum public shareholding requirement. The rules have been relaxed for listed entities for whom the deadline to comply with MPS requirements falls between the period from March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2020.
SEBI in its earlier circular dated 10th October 2020 mandates monitoring minimum public shareholding in listed entities and the Stock exchanges are empowered to levy penalty on promoters and inform depositories to freeze their shareholding in listed entities that fail to meet the prescribed threshold. Under SEBI norms, listed entities are required to have at least 25% public shareholding.
Further, the decision to relax the Above MPS norms for listed companies has been taken after receiving requests from listed entities and industry bodies as well as considering the prevailing business and market conditions.
Click here to read the circular.
