oppn parties Social Stock Exchange Is A Good Idea from Sebi

News Snippets

  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
Devendra Fadnavis to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra after Eknath Shinde agrees to join the government as deputy CM
oppn parties
Social Stock Exchange Is A Good Idea from Sebi

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2021-10-06 12:58:30

It is not businesses alone that need funds. Social enterprises, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, also need funds, to run their operations. They have to depend on donations, from good Samaritans in India and abroad, similar enterprises who value their work and also from the CSR funds of companies. But if people are willing to invest in such social enterprises, why should they depend only on donations? Working on this premise, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has now announced that social enterprises, both for-profit and non-profit, will be allowed to access the stock markets through a to-be-created social stock exchange where they will be listed for trading. The enterprises will be allowed to access the equity, bond and mutual funds markets. Obviously not all social enterprises will be allowed such access. Only those working in the areas of working to eradicate hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting healthcare, education, gender equality, livelihoods and empowerment of women and LGBT communities as well as encouraging environmental sustainability, among others. They will be allowed to raise finances through social impact funds having a corpus of Rs 5 crore.

But the contours of the scheme need to be defined well since NGOs and social enterprises have not in the good books of the ruling dispensation. It has tried to block access to funds and has otherwise harassed a large number of big and small social enterprises, including many that have a global footprint. Hence there is a huge chance that rules will be drafted in such a manner that it would exclude a large number of NGOs that are doing exemplary work but are viewed with suspicion for their stand often goes against the government. That would be unfair. Although NGOs work to supplement government work in social areas, since they work among the underprivileged and the marginalized and try to highlight the difficulties faced by them, sometimes they come in conflict with the administration and the more vocal among them are always viewed with suspicion. But if the access to equity is restrictive and selective, it will fail to meet the purpose. Hence, the scheme must be well-defined, transparent and open to all that meet the stated criteria.