The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Appointment of Administrator and Procedure for Refunding to the Investors) Regulations, 2018, [Regulations] provide for appointment of Insolvency Professionals (IPs) as Administrators for the purposes specified therein. A copy of the said Regulations is at Annexure A. These Guidelines have been prepared in consultation with SEBI to facilitate appointment of IPs as Administrators.
2.The IBBI and the SEBI have mutually agreed upon to use a Panel of IPs for appointment as Administrators for effective implementation of the Regulations. The IBBI shall prepare a Panel of IPs keeping in view the requirements of SEBI and the Regulations and the SEBI shall appoint the IPs from the Panel as Administrators, as per its requirement in accordance with the Regulations. A Panel shall be valid for six months and a new Panel will replace the earlier Panel every six months. For example, the first panel under these Guidelines will be valid for appointments during April-September, 2020, the next panel will be valid for appointments during October-March, 2021, and soon.
3. An IP will be eligible to be included in the Panel of the IPsif-
(a) there is no disciplinary proceeding, whether initiated by the IBBI or the IPA of which he is a member, pending against him;
(b) he has not been convicted at any time in the last three years by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(c) he expresses his interest to be included in the Panel for the relevant period;and
(d) he undertakes to discharge the responsibility as an Administrator, as and when he may be appointed by the SEBI.
(e) he has made the compliance under Regulation 7(2) (ca) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Professionals) Regulations, 2016 for the year 2018-19
(f) he holds an Authorisation for Assignment (AFA), which is valid on the date of expression of interest and remains valid till the validity of panel. For example, the IP included in the panel for the period April –September 2020, should have AFA which is valid till 30th September, 2020.
4. The Panel shall have Zone wise list of IPs. An IP will be in cluded in the Panel against the Zone where his registered office (address as registered with the IBBI) is located. For example, an IP located in the city of Surat (Gujarat) will be included in Ahmedabad Zone, which covers the State of Gujarat. The areas covered in different Zones are as under:
Expression of Interest
5. The IBBI shall invite expression of interest from IPs in Form A to act as Administrator by sending an e-mail to IPs at their email addresses registered with it and hosting the guidelines on its website. The expression of interest must be received by the IBBI in Form A by the specified date. For example, the IBBI shall invite expression of interest by 7thMarch 2020 from IPs for inclusion in the Panel for April–September, 2020. The interested IPs shall express their interest by 15th March 2020. The IBBI will send the Panel to SEBI by 25th March 2020. This process will be repeated every six months.
6. It must be explicitly understood that an IP, who is included in the Panel based on his expression of interest, must not:
(a) withdraw his interest to act Administrator; or
(b) decline to act as Administrator, if appointed by SEBI; or
(c) surrender his registration to the IBBI or membership or AFA to his IPA; during the validity of the Panel.
7. It must also be explicitly understood that:
(a) an IP in the Panel will be appointed as Administrator, at the sole discretion of SEBI;
(b)the submission of expression of interest is an unconditional consent by the IP to act as Administrator in accordance with the Regulations;and
(c) an IP who declines to act as Administrator, on being appointed by SEBI, shall not be included in the Panel for the next five years, without prejudice to any other action that may be taken by the IBBI.
Inclusion of IPs in the Panel
8. The IBBI shall include the IPs, who have expressed their interest, in the Panel based on the three parameters the weights of which are as under: