[See sub-regulation (1) of regulation 9]
Minimum Standards for Code of Conduct to Regulate, Monitor and Report Trading by Insiders
1. The compliance officer shall report to the board of directors and in particular, shall provide reports to the Chairman of the Audit Committee, if any, or to the Chairman of the board of directors at such frequency as may be stipulated by the board of directors .
2. All information shall be handled within the organisation on a need-to-know basis and no unpublished price sensitive information shall be communicated to any person except in furtherance of the legitimate purposes, performance of duties or discharge of legal obligations. The code of conduct shall contain norms for appropriate Chinese Walls procedures, and processes for permitting any designated person to “cross the wall”.
3. Employees and connected persons designated on the basis of their functional role (“designated persons”) in the organisation shall be governed by an internal code of conduct governing dealing in securities.
Designated persons may execute trades subject to compliance with these regulations. Towards this end, a notional trading window shall be used as an instrument of monitoring trading by the designated persons.
The trading window shall be closed when the compliance officer determines that a designated person or class of designated persons can reasonably be expected to have possession of unpublished price sensitive information. Such closure shall be imposed in relation to such securities to which such unpublished price sensitive information relates. Designated persons and their immediate relatives shall not trade in securities when the trading window is closed.
The trading window restrictions mentioned in sub-clause (1) shall not apply in respect of –
(a) transactions specified in clauses (i) to (iv) and (vi) of the proviso to sub-regulation (1) of regulation 4 and in respect of a pledge of shares for a bonafide purpose such as raising of funds, subject to pre-clearance by the compliance officer and compliance with the respective regulations made by the Board;
transactions which are undertaken in accordance with respective regulations made by the Board such as acquisition by conversion of warrants or debentures, subscribing to rights issue, further public issue, preferential allotment or tendering of shares in a buyback offer, open offer, delisting offer
5. The timing for re-opening of the trading window shall be determined by the compliance officer taking into account various factors including the unpublished price sensitive information in question becoming generally available and being capable of assimilation by the market, which in any event shall not be earlier than forty-eight hours after the information becomes generally available.
6. When the trading window is open, trading by designated persons shall be subject to pre-clearance by the compliance officer, if the value of the proposed trades is above such thresholds as the board of directors may stipulate.
8. Prior to approving any trades, the compliance officer shall be entitled to seek declarations to the effect that the applicant for pre-clearance is not in possession of any unpublished price sensitive information. He shall also have regard to whether any such declaration is reasonably capable of being rendered inaccurate.
9. The code of conduct shall specify any reasonable time frame, which in any event shall not be more than seven trading days, within which trades that have been pre-cleared have to be executed by the designated person, failing which fresh pre-clearance would be needed for the trades to be executed.
The code of conduct shall specify the period, which in any event shall not be less than six months, within which a designated person who is permitted to trade shall not execute a contra trade. The compliance officer may be empowered to grant relaxation from strict application of such restriction for reasons to be recorded in writing provided that such relaxation does not violate these regulations. Should a contra trade be executed, inadvertently or otherwise, in violation of such a restriction, the profits from such trade shall be liable to be disgorged for remittance to the Board for credit to the Investor Protection and Education Fund administered by the Board under the Act.
11. The code of conduct shall stipulate such formats as the board of directors deems necessary for making applications for pre-clearance, reporting of trades executed, reporting of decisions not to trade after securing pre-clearance, and for reporting level of holdings in securities at such intervals as may be determined as being necessary to monitor compliance with these regulations.
Without prejudice to the power of the Board under the Act, the code of conduct shall stipulate the sanctions and disciplinary actions, including wage freeze, suspension, recovery, etc., that may be imposed, by the listed company required to formulate a code of conduct under sub-regulation (1) of regulation 9, for the contravention of the code of conduct. Any amount collected under this clause shall be remitted to the Board for credit to the Investor Protection and Education Fund administered by the Board under the Act.
12. Without prejudice to the power of the Board under the Act, the code of conduct shall stipulate the sanctions and disciplinary actions, including wage freeze, suspension etc., that may be imposed, by the persons required to formulate a code of conduct under sub-regulation (1) and sub-regulation (2) of regulation 9, for the contravention of the code of conduct.
The code of conduct shall specify that in case it is observed by the persons required to formulate a code of conduct under sub-regulation (1) of regulation 9, that there has been a violation of these regulations, they shall
Designated persons shall be required to disclose names and Permanent Account Number or any other identifier authorized by law of the following persons to the company on an annual basis and as and when the information changes:
a)immediate relatives
b)persons with whom such designated person(s) shares a material financial relationship
c)Phone,mobile and cell numbers which are used by them
In addition,the names of educational institutions from which designated persons have graduated and names of their past employers shall also be disclosed on a one time basis.
Explanation –The term “material financial relationship” shall mean a relationship in which one person is a recipient of any kind of payment such as by way of a loan or gift during the immediately preceding twelve months, equivalent to at least 25% of such payer’s annual income but shall exclude relationships in which the payment is based on arm’s length transactions.
Listed entities shall have a process for how and when people are brought ‘inside’ on sensitive transactions. Individuals should be made aware of the duties and responsibilities attached to the receipt of Inside Information, and the liability that attaches to misuse or unwarranted use of such information.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.09.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 09.07.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer BSE & NSE Circulars dated 28.03.2024 regarding FAQs on extending the framework for restricting trading by DPs by freezing PAN at security level. To view the BSE Circular, Click here. To view the NSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer BSE & NSE Circular dated 30.01.2024 regarding SEBI (PIT) Regulations, 2015 – Framework for restricting trading by DPs by freezing PAN at security level. To view the BSE Circular, Click here. To view the NSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer BSE & NSE Circular regarding Filing of Announcements pertaining to Loss of Share Certificate/Issue of Duplicate Share Certificate/Closure of Trading Window and CIRP in XBRL format on BSE Listing Centre/ NEAPS Platform. To view the BSE Circular, Click here. To view the NSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE & BSE Circular dated 17.11.2023 regarding Trading Window closure period under Clause 4 of Schedule B read with Regulation 9 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. To view the NSE Circular, Click here. To view the BSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE & BSE Circular dated 31.07.2023 regarding Trading Window closure period under Clause 4 of Schedule B read with Regulation 9 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. To view the NSE Circular, Click here. To view the BSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE, BSE & SEBI Circular dated 21.07.2023 & 19.07.2023 regarding Trading Window closure period under Clause 4 of Schedule B read with Regulation 9 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. To view the NSE Circular, Click here. To view the BSE Circular, Click here. To view the SEBI Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE & BSE Circular dated 28.06.2023 regarding Trading Window closure period under Clause 4 of Schedule B read with Regulation 9 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. To view the NSE Circular, Click here and BSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.03.2023 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.09.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Re-numbered vide the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2019 dated 25.07.2019. To view the Notification, Click Here.
- Refer SEBI Circular dated 05.08.2022 regarding Trading Window Closure – Framework for restricting trading by Designated Persons by freezing PAN at security level. To view the circular, Click Here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.09.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE & BSE Circular dated 28.06.2023 regarding regarding Trading Window closure period under Clause 4 of Schedule B read with Regulation 9 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. To view the NSE Circular, Click here and BSE Circular, Click here.
- Refer NSE Circular dated 14.06.2023 regarding Seeking of comments / feedback on the XBRL being introduced for submission of Announcements pertaining to Loss of Share Certificate/ Issue of Duplicate Share Certificate and Closure of Trading Window. To view the Circular, Click here.
- Re-numbered vide the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2019 dated 25.07.2019. To view the Notification, Click Here.
- Refer SEBI Circular dated 05.08.2022 regarding Trading Window Closure – Framework for restricting trading by Designated Persons by freezing PAN at security level. To view the circular, Click Here.
Also refer NSE Clarification regarding trading restriction period dated 02.04.2019. To view the Notification, Click Here.
2.Inserted vide the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2019 dated 25.07.2019. To view the Notification, Click Here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.09.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 09.07.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer the comprehensive FAQs on SEBI (PIT) regulations, 2015 issued by SEBI dated 31.03.2023. To view the FAQs, Click here.
- Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.03.2023 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer Revised FAQs on SEBI (PIT) Regulations 2015 issued on 08.10.2020. To view the FAQs. Click Here.
- Refer FAQs on SEBI (PIT) Regulations 2015. To view the FAQs. Click Here.
2. Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 09.07.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
3. Substituted vide Securities and Exchange Board Of India (Prohibition Of Insider Trading) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 dated 17.07.2020. To view the notification, Click Here
2. Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 09.07.2024 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
3. Refer SEBI Master Circular dated 23.03.2023 on surveillance of securities market. To view the Master Circular, Click here.
- Refer SEBI circular dated 23.07.2020 for format on reporting of violations. To view the circular, Click Here
- Substituted vide Securities and Exchange Board Of India (Prohibition Of Insider Trading) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 dated 17.07.2020. To view the notification,Click Here