SEBI expands UPSI definition to include 17 more material events from LODR Regulations

The press statement said that, for events emanating from outside the company, flexibility has been provided to make entries in the structured digital database on a deferred basis, within two days, as well as to not have mandatory trading window closure.

The market regulator has expanded the definition of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) under the Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) Regulations to include 17 out of the 27 material events under Regulation 30 of the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) met with its Board on December 18. Following the meeting, the regulator's press statement said that the Board has approved the necessary amendments to PIT Regulations.

The press statement said, "This is being done to enhance regulatory clarity, certainty and uniformity in compliance in the ecosystem."

In addition, for identification of events as UPSI, threshold limits as prescribed for events from Para A and Para B of Part A of Schedule III of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 have been made applicable.

Further, for events emanating from outside the company, flexibility has been provided to make entries in the structured digital database on a deferred basis, within two days, as well as to not have mandatory trading window closure. This has been done to enhance the ease of doing business (EODB) for listed companies

In a consultation paper released on this, the regulator said that it had decided to review this after its study showed that "companies were seen to be categorizing only the items explicitly mentioned in Regulation 2(1)(n) of PIT Regulations as UPSI thus not complying with the law in spirit".