Ifsca to clear final norms for direct listing at the Gift City this month

Framework for listing of domestically listed stocks also expected soon, says Ifsca chairperson

The final regulations for direct listing of unlisted companies at GIFT City will be ready in a month and the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) may see the first listing within a quarter, said K Rajaraman, chairperson, IFSC Authority.

The Centre had already notified the regulations to enable listing of public Indian companies in GIFT-IFSC in January. And, the IFSCA had sought comments on a consultation paper on additional regulatory requirements issued in May.

“We realised that our regulations need a little update. Therefore, in the last two months, we have updated the listing regulations that have gone through the public consultation process. We are likely to place it for approval in our authority meeting by the end of this month. It will probably get notified by early next month,” said K Rajaraman, at a conference by BSE.

IFSCA’s Issuance and Listing of Securities (ILS) Regulations, 2021 provides the current framework for listing of various securities by issuers incorporated in the IFSC, India and foreign jurisdictions. After approval, ILS regulations may be replaced with the new IFSCA (Listing) Regulations, 2024.

Post the final approval, overseas companies and domestic unlisted firms will be able to file documents with the IFSC exchanges for listing.

According to the proposal, issuers with a proposed issue size of $100 million or less will be exempted from the requirement of seeking observation letter or approval from IFSCA.

The revised norms also specify eligibility criteria and set standards for disclosures, whistleblower mechanism, accounting standards and sustainability reporting, among others.

The IFSCA chairperson added that the framework for allowing already listed companies on domestic exchanges to raise capital through GIFT city, which is being developed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), will also be ready within two to three months.

IFSCA has already provided its inputs on the subject.

The authority has also — in the past few weeks — conducted several outreach programmes in various cities and overseas to promote the GIFT route.

Nearly 75 broker-dealers are already registered in IFSC and the authority expects more to set up shop. As of March, there were only three investment bankers registered in the IFSC.