RBI operationalises Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bonds Scheme
“Issue of Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bonds (FCEB) Scheme, 2008” was notified by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs vide Notification G.S.R.89 (E) dated February 15, 2008 and the RBI has decided to operationalise the Scheme.
“Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bond” means a bond expressed in foreign currency, the principal and interest in respect of which is payable in foreign currency, issued by an Issuing Company and subscribed to by a person who is a resident outside India, in foreign currency and exchangeable into equity share of another company, to be called the Offered Company, in any manner, either wholly, or partly or on the basis of any equity related warrants attached to debt instruments. The FCEB may be denominated in any freely convertible foreign currency.
Eligible Issuer: The Issuing Company shall be part of the promoter group of the Offered Company and shall hold the equity share/s being offered at the time of issuance of FCEB.
Offered Company: The Offered Company shall be a listed company, which is engaged in a sector eligible to receive Foreign Direct Investment and eligible to issue or avail of Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) or External Commercial Borrowings (ECB).
Entities not eligible to issue FCEB : An Indian company, which is not eligible to raise funds from the Indian securities market, including a company which has been restrained from accessing the securities market by the SEBI shall not be eligible to issue FCEB.
Eligible Subscriber: Entities complying with the Foreign Direct Investment policy and adhering to the sectoral caps at the time of issue of FCEB can subscribe to FCEB . Prior approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, wherever required under the Foreign Direct Investment policy, should be obtained.
Entities not eligible to subscribe to FCEB : Entities prohibited to buy, sell or deal in securities by the SEBI will not be eligible to subscribe to FCEB.
End-use of FCEB proceeds:
Issuing Company:
(i) The proceeds of FCEB may be invested by the issuing company overseas by way of direct investment including in Joint Ventures or Wholly Owned Subsidiaries abroad, subject to the existing guidelines on overseas investment in Joint Ventures/Wholly Owned Subsidiaries.
(ii) The proceeds of FCEB may be invested by the issuing company in the promoter group companies.
Promoter Group Companies:
Promoter Group Companies receiving investments out of the FCEB proceeds may utilise the amount in accordance with end-uses prescribed under the ECB policy.
End-uses not permitted: The promoter group company receiving such investments will not be permitted to utilise the proceeds for investments in the capital market or in real estate in India.
All-in-cost: The rate of interest payable on FCEB and the issue expenses incurred in foreign currency shall be within the all-in-cost ceiling as specified by Reserve Bank under the ECB policy.
Pricing of FCEB : At the time of issuance of FCEB the exchange price of the offered listed equity shares shall not be less than the higher of the following two:
(i) The average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the shares of the offered company quoted on the stock exchange during the six months preceding the relevant date; and
(ii) The average of the weekly high and low of the closing prices of the shares of the offered company quoted on a stock exchange during the two week preceding the relevant date.
Average Maturity: Minimum maturity of FCEB shall be five years. The exchange option can be exercised at any time before redemption. While exercising the exchange option, the holder of the FCEB shall take delivery of the offered shares. Cash (Net) settlement of FCEB shall not be permissible.
Parking of FCEB proceeds abroad : The proceeds of FCEB shall be retained and/or deployed overseas by the issuing/promoter group companies in accordance with the policy for the ECB.
It shall be the responsibility of the issuing company to ensure that the proceeds of FCEB are used by the promoter group company only for the permitted end-uses prescribed under the ECB policy. The issuing company should also submit audit trail of the end-use of the proceeds by the issuing company / promoter group companies to the Reserve Bank duly certified by the designated Authorised Dealer bank.
Operational Procedure – Issuance of FCEB shall require prior approval of the Reserve Bank under the Approval Route for raising ECB . The Reporting arrangement for FCEB shall be as per extant ECB policy.
A.P. (DIR Series) CIRCULAR No. 17/ RBI ., Dated: September 23, 2008