AT present,
unlisted companies that are incorporated in India are not allowed to
directly list in overseas markets without prior or simultaneous listing
in Indian markets. It has now been decided with the approval of the
Union Finance Minister that unlisted companies may be allowed to raise
capital abroad without the requirement of prior or subsequent listing in
India.
This scheme will be implemented on a pilot basis for a period of two
years from the date of notification of the scheme. After the initial two
year period, the impact of this arrangement will be reviewed.
The approval to list abroad is subject to the following conditions:
•
Unlisted companies may be allowed to list abroad only on exchanges in
IOSCO/FATF compliant jurisdictions or those jurisdictions with which
SEBI has signed bilateral agreements;
• The Companies shall file a copy of the return which they submit to the
proposed exchange/regulators also to SEBI for the purpose of Prevention
of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They shall comply with SEBI's
disclosure requirements in addition to that of the primary exchange
prior to the listing abroad;
• While raising resources abroad, the listing company shall be fully compliant with the FDI Policy in force;
• The capital raised abroad may be utilised for retiring outstanding
overseas debt or for operations abroad including for acquisitions;
• In case the funds raised are not utilised abroad as stipulated above,
such companies shall remit the money back to India within 15 days and
such money shall be parked only in AD category banks recognised by RBI.
Ministry of Finance (MoF), Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would be issuing the
necessary notifications in due course in order to implement the required
changes to the existing rules.
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