Tighter norms likely to rein in wild HNI bets in IPOs, say experts

Earmarking a third of the NII portion for small-ticket investors can help democratise allotments, say experts

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi's) diktat to reserve a third of the portion for non-institutional investors (NII) for bids that fall between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 million may help democratise the way shares are bid for in this category during initial public offerings (IPOs), according to experts.

Until now, those bidding in the NII category with a lower value typically lost out to those who placed high-value bids of Rs 20crore-Rs 50 crore. This was especially the case when the grey market premium for an IPO was high and the issue was expected to list at