National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) received final approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 22, 2023, to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment of the NSE.
The Social Stock Exchange segment will provide a new avenue for social enterprises to finance social initiatives, provide them visibility and bring in increased transparency in fund mobilisation & utilisation by social enterprises. Any social enterprise, Non-Profit Organization (NPOs) or For-Profit Social Enterprise (FPEs), that establishes its primacy of social intent can get registered/listed on the Social Stock Exchange segment.
For eligible NPOs, the first step for onboarding starts with registration on the Social Stock Exchange segment. Post registration, NPOs can initiate the fund mobilisation process by the issuance of instruments such as Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) via a public issue or private placement. Currently, the regulations have prescribed the minimum issue size as Rs 1 crore and the minimum application size for subscription at Rs 2 lakhs for ZCZP issuance.
For FPE, the process of issuing and listing of securities shall be the same as applicable for the issue and listing of securities under the extant processes of the Exchange (based on eligibility criteria for the Mainboard, SME Platform or innovators growth platform, as applicable in addition to the criteria provided to be eligible as Social Enterprises).
Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, NSE said: “I take this opportunity to thank SEBI for permitting NSE to launch Social Stock Exchange as a segment. To bring awareness, we have been conducting various events and hand-holding Social Enterprises currently at various stages of onboarding on the Exchange. I take this opportunity to request Social Enterprises to get in touch with our teams to understand the mechanism and benefits of registering & listing on the Social Stock Exchange segment.”
About National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE)
National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) is the world’s largest derivatives exchange by trading volume (contracts) as per the statistics maintained by Futures Industry Association (FIA) for the calendar year 2022. NSE is ranked 3rd in the world in cash equities by the number of trades as per the statistics maintained by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) for the calendar year 2022. NSE was the first exchange in India to implement electronic or screen-based trading. It began operations in 1994 and is ranked as the largest stock exchange in India in terms of total and average daily turnover for equity shares every year since 1995, based on SEBI data. NSE has a fully integrated business model comprising exchange listings, trading services, clearing and settlement services, indices, market data feeds, technology solutions and financial education offerings. NSE also oversees compliance by trading, clearing members and listed companies with the rules and regulations of SEBI and the exchange. NSE is a pioneer in technology and ensures the reliability and performance of its systems through a culture of innovation and investment in technology.
