India’s markets regulator has increased the annual ceiling for maturing International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs) for private debt placements from 14 to 17, aiming to enhance flexibility for issuers and ease liquidity pressures.
India’s markets regulator has widened the room available for companies that sell debt through private placements, lifting the annual ceiling on maturing International Securities Identification Numbers, or ISINs, to 17 from 14.
According to a circular from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, the revised framework applies immediately and is designed to give issuers more flexibility in planning repayments and refinancing. Under the new rules, up to 12 of those ISINs may be used for plain-vanilla debt, including both secured and unsecured bonds, while as many as five may be set aside for structured debt, market-linked debt, floating-rate bonds, zero-coupon bonds and Tier II capital instruments.
SEBI also said it would allow six ISINs for capital gains tax debt securities issued under section 54EC of the Income Tax Act on a private placement basis. If the combined outstanding amount across the 12 plain-vanilla ISINs reaches ₹15,000 crore, one further ISIN may be permitted for each additional ₹3,000 crore of issuance. The regulator said existing ISINs tied to these bonds will be grandfathered to avoid accidental breaches of the cap.
The circular excludes Government of India serviced and extra-budgetary resources bonds, as well as environment, social and governance debt securities, from the calculation of an issuer’s ISIN limits. Business publication reports said the move is likely to ease liquidity and refinancing pressure for non-banking finance companies and large corporates, which often rely on the private placement market to raise funds and manage debt maturities.
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