Share Registrar and Balloters
Share registrars and balloters are the regulated securities activities under the Securities Act, 2015. The role of Share Registrars and Ballotters is very important, as they are involved in the issuance and transfer of shares, maintenance of share registers, issuance of dividend warrants and bonus shares on behalf of the issuer. Ballotters role is also of important as they have to conduct fair and transparent balloting for the investors in Initial Public Offering (“IPO”). SECP promulgated the Share Registrars and Balloters Regulations, 2017 (SRB Regulations) on January 11, 2017. All the share registrars and balloters are required to be licensed with SECP for providing business as Share registrar and Balloter.
SRB Regulations prescribes the eligibility conditions, licensing procedure and duties and responsibilities of Share Registrars and Ballotters.
Grant of Licence to SRB
An application for grant of licence as a share registrar and balloter shall be made to the Commission in Form ‘A’ along with all the documents specified in Annexure ‘II’ and receipt evidencing payment of non-refundable fee of such amount as set out in regulation 5. The Commission, while considering the application for grant of licence, may require the applicant to furnish such further information or clarification regarding its activities and businesses, as it deems appropriate.
Renewal of Licence
For renewal of licence, a SRB shall, at least two months prior to the date of expiry of its licence, apply to the Commission in Form ‘C’ along with all the documents as specified in Annexure III and evidence of payment of non-refundable renewal fee of such amount as prescribed in Schedule I as specified in regulation 7.
The Commission if satisfied that the applicant continues to meet the requirements for licensing shall renew the licence for one year and issue a certificate of renewal of licence to the applicant in Form ‘D’.
The detailed procedure for grant /renewal of licence and Annexures and Forms as mentioned above may be seen in Share Registrars and Balloters Regulations, 2017