New Delhi: On Monday, the market regulator Sebi suggested permitting debt issuers to provide incentives during public issues to specific categories of investors, such as senior citizens, women, and retail subscribers, to bolster retail engagement in the bond market and rekindle interest in public debt offerings. Presently, Regulation 31 of the Sebi (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) Regulations, 2021 prohibits any individual associated with an issue from offering incentives, whether directly or indirectly, in cash, kind, or services, apart from legitimate fees or commissions. In its consultation paper, Sebi has proposed an amendment to this regulation, allowing issuers to offer a higher coupon rate or a discount on the issue price for certain investor groups.
The regulator suggested that issuers could provide such incentives at their discretion, contingent upon upfront disclosure in the offer documents. These incentives would apply solely to original allottees and would not transfer if the bonds are later sold or transmitted. “It is proposed to permit issuers to offer incentives in the form of a higher coupon rate or discount on the issue price to specific categories of allottees like senior citizens, women, armed forces personnel (including serving defense personnel, veterans, and widows of veterans) and retail subscribers to promote retail participation in debt securities while enhancing the volume of public issuances in the debt market,” stated Sebi.
To facilitate this, Sebi proposed adding a clause to Regulation 31 that explicitly allows issuers to offer higher coupon rates or discounts on issue prices to qualifying investors. The regulator pointed out that similar incentives are already present in various other financial sectors.