BSE on Friday said it has received an in-principle approval from the market regulator Sebi to introduce Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment on the exchange.
“This is to inform that, SEBI has granted its in-principle approval to BSE for introducing SSE as a separate segment on BSE,” BSE said in an exchange filing.
SSE segment will offer social enterprises with an additional avenue of funding, as it will pave way for listing of not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) on the stock exchange.
For this, Sebi had on September 19 came out with a detailed framework for social stock exchange, specifying minimum requirements for a NPO for registering with the bourse and disclosure requirements.
In its circular then, Sebi had specified disclosure requirement for NPOs raising funds through the issuance of zero-coupon zero principal instruments and put in place annual disclosure requirements.
Listed NPO will have to submit a statement of utilisation of funds to SSE, as mandated under Sebi’s rules within 45 days from the end of quarter, Sebi said in its September 19 circular.
Sebi had also asked social enterprises raising funds using SSE to disclose Annual Impact Report (AIR) within 90 days from the end of financial year, capturing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the social impact generated by the entity and where applicable, the impact that is generated by the project or solution for which funds have been raised on SSE.