India’s markets regulator has proposed sweeping changes to the country’s share buyback framework, including bringing back open‑market buybacks through stock exchanges, tightening timelines for execution and removing the requirement to hire investment bankers for such offers.

Here are the details:

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) laid out proposed amendments to the 2018 buyback rules aimed at easing compliance and speeding up execution, after open‑market buybacks via stock exchanges were discontinued from April

• SEBI proposed capping the duration of open‑market buybacks at 66 working days, reversing earlier plans to allow offers to run as long as six months.

• Companies would still be required to deploy at least 40% of the earmarked buyback amount in the first half of the offer period.

• The regulator also proposed scrapping the need for a separate trading window for buybacks and allowing transactions to take place through the regular market

• SEBI suggested making the appointment of a merchant banker optional for buybacks, shifting many procedural and compliance responsibilities directly to companies, stock exchanges and auditors.

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• SEBI has also proposed mandating companies to send an electronic intimation regarding the buyback offer to shareholders – as on the date of public announcement – within one working day of such announcement

• Other proposals include freezing promoters’ shares during the buyback period to prevent trading, barring buybacks that would breach minimum public shareholding norms.

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