Need:
A company is required to issue a prospectus each time it accesses the capital market. It leads to unnecessary repetition for a company which makes more than one offer of securities in a year to raise funds from the public.
A way out is ‘shelf prospectus’ which remains valid (on the shelf) for a specified time period during which offers for securities may be made by a company to the public without going through the arduous exercise of issuing fresh prospectus every time.
Applicability:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The Companies (Amendment) Act 2000 inserted Section 60A to enable public financial institutions, public sector banks, and scheduled banks, whose main object is to make loans to, or subscribe for securities of private industrial enterprises engaged in infrastructure financing to issue shelf prospectus.
Meaning:
Shelf prospectus means a prospectus issued by any financial institution or bank for one or more issues of the securities or class of securities specified in that prospectus.
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Provisions of the Act:
Any public financial institution, public sector bank or scheduled bank whose main object is financing shall file a shelf prospectus.
A company filing a shelf prospectus with the Registrar shall not be required to file prospectus afresh at every stage of offer of securities by it within a period of validity of such shelf prospectus.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
A company filing a shelf prospectus shall be required to file an information memorandum on all material facts relating to new charges created, changes in the financial position as have occurred between the previous offer of securities and the succeeding offer of securities under the shelf prospectus.
An information memorandum shall be issued to the public along with shelf prospectus filed at the stage of the first offer of securities and such prospectus shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of opening of the first issue of securities under that prospectus.