BSE circular on Waiver Application Procedure and Deviation Discretion: Key Updates and Compliance Requirements - MMJC

BSE circular on Waiver Application Procedure and Deviation Discretion: Key Updates and Compliance Requirements

• Bombay Stock Exchange (‘BSE’) vide notice no. 20240101-18 dated January 1, 2024, has come up with a circular (‘BSE circular’).
• The BSE circular specifically refers to previous directives from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), specifically SEBI circular SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD/CIR/P/2020/12 dated January 22, 2020 (‘SEBI circular’) which outlined the regulatory actions which SEBI can take against listed entities that fail to comply with certain provisions of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
• The SEBI circular had specified a standardized structure for imposing fines and outlined a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the suspension and revocation of trading of specified securities in case of non-compliance.                 
• Further, BSE vide circular no.20220331-52 dated March 31, 2022, had come up with a circular on the processing of waiver applications by the Exchanges in the case of commonly listed entities. This circular mentioned that Exchanges had jointly formulated a “Policy for Exemption of Fines” and the same was noted by SEBI. Also, non-compliant companies were asked to apply for a waiver of fine only on achieving with provision of listing regulation.
• Now with the recent BSE circular, the exchange has mentioned specific path and waiver applications made through waiver application module of the listing center only will be considered valid.
• Companies intending to apply for a waiver must do so through the Waiver Application Module of the Listing Centre. The specific path for submitting a waiver application is – listing center>listing operations>listing module>issue type>waiver>sub process>waiver
• Starting from January 01, 2024, only those waiver applications made through the Waiver Application Module of the Listing Centre will be considered valid.
• So listed companies can now apply for a waiver by logging into companies’ specific ID and submitting waiver applications on the path mentioned above.
• All listed companies are requested to take note of these changes and ensure compliance with the updated procedure for submitting waiver applications.
• To summarize it can be said that, the BSE circular outlines the revised procedure for submitting waiver applications, emphasizing the importance of using the Waiver Application Module of the Listing Centre for validity. It also highlights that exchanges have the flexibility to deviate from SOP Circulars, subject to the condition of providing written reasons for such deviations.

Source: https://www.bseindia.com/markets/MarketInfo/DispNewNoticesCirculars.aspx?page=20240101-18