SEBI cancels registrations of 19 Foreign Venture Capital Investors; all defunct in respective jurisdictions

The regulator found that six of them had never filed the quarterly reports they are required to under the norms.

The market regulator has cancelled the registration of nineteen Foreign Venture Capital Investors (FVCIs).

The regulator found that they were not operating from their registered addresses; all had become defunct between 2013 and 2023 in their respective jurisdictions Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus; six of them never filed any quarterly report and four had filed these reports as long as back as FY13.

Among the 19 names were Axis Capital Mauritius, Axis India Infrastructure Holdings, Blackstone Capital Partners (Singapore) VI FVCI Pte. Ltd and Blackstone Family Investment Partnership (Singapore) VI-ESC FVCI Pte. Ltd.

In an order passed on February 18, the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI's) Chief General Manager G Ramar noted, "from the material available on record, I note that the Noticees were not carrying out any FVCI activities and also hardly submitted the relevant reports ever since being registered with SEBI. The said facts clearly show that the Noticees are not interested to continue as a registered Foreign Venture Capital Investors."

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The order also noted that the FVCIs did not intimate the regulator about their change in regulatory status, when the became defunct in their home jurisdiction.

Out of the 14 entities whose date of strike off is available, 11 entities had been defunct for more than five years in their home jurisdiction and three others had been defunct for 10 months to three years.

(This copy will be updated.)