Better late than never

The retail frenzy for SME IPOs and rising cases of frauds forced Sebi's hand

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) marathon meeting on Wednesday evening yielded a rich harvest. As a result, tighter checks on insider transactions, tougher criteria for merchant bankers, and easier rules for investment trusts are on the way, most of which should help in improving investor protection and the efficiency of market participants. The biggest measure, of course, was reserved for initial public offerings (IPOs) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which were making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The best part is that while tightening the regulations, the regulator has balanced investor protection objectives with the needs of genuine SMEs. Sebi's intentions anyway didn't come as a surprise: A consultation paper in November this year had red-flagged some SMEs diverting issue proceeds, declaring manipulated numbers, and undertaking outsized related-party deals.