Start-up founders get relief on Esops holding
In a move that will offer a major relief to the start-ups founders planning public listing, capital market regulator Sebi has allowed them to hold on to their employees stock ownership plan (Esops) provided they were issued one year before the public issue filing.
The regulator has also created a special category for foreign funds to invest in government securities called GS-FPIs and aligned their KYC norms with that of the Reserve Bank. Announcing these decisions and a host of others after a marathon board meeting here this evening, which cleared as many as 19 proposals/amendments to the existing sebi norms on Wednesday, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said all the 19 decisions have been taken after detailed consultation with the industry and will go a long way to further relax the ease of doing business.
'The proposal approved by the Sebi board shall facilitate founders who received ESOP benefits at least one year prior to the filing of IPO papers with the Sebi, to continue holding, and/or exercising such benefits even after being specified as the promoters and the company becoming a listed entity," the chairman said highlighting that the decisions are part of an overall objective of enhancing the ease of business.
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