India’s Securities and Exchange Board of India approved a broad package of regulatory changes at its 18 June board meeting, the second under new Chair Tuhin Kanta Pandey. The measures aim to lower compliance costs for listed and unlisted companies, deepen foreign participation in the debt market and simplify exit routes for the government in certain state-owned enterprises. The regulator cleared a separate voluntary delisting framework for public-sector undertakings in which the government or other promoters already own at least 90 percent. Eligible PSUs may now delist through a fixed-price offer set at no less than a 15 percent premium to the regulatory floor price, without seeking approval from two-thirds of minority shareholders. SEBI said only five non-financial PSUs currently meet the ownership threshold. For India’s start-up sector, SEBI relaxed a long-standing hurdle by allowing founders classified as promoters to retain employee stock-option plans granted at least one year before filing draft IPO papers. The concession is expected to help technology companies that shift their domicile back to India before listing, a process known as reverse flipping. To attract long-term overseas capital to government securities, the board simplified know-your-customer and other documentation requirements for foreign portfolio investors that invest exclusively in Indian government bonds, aligning review cycles with Reserve Bank of India norms. Additional decisions include recognising angel investors as Accredited Investors and permitting Category I and II Alternative Investment Funds to extend co-investment opportunities; mandating dematerialised holdings for key shareholders ahead of an IPO; trimming disclosure requirements for qualified institutional placements and rights issues; offering a one-time settlement scheme for brokers involved in the National Spot Exchange case; and allowing investment advisers and research analysts to meet deposit obligations with liquid and overnight mutual funds.