Corporate governance requires transparency: SEBI chief

Chennai, Aug 2 (UNI) Chairman of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) M Damodaran today stressed the importance of transparency and sharing of information by the companies with shareholders.

Addressing the national conclave on 'The Change Face of Financial Leadership,' organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here, he said the Indian capital market should become a market of choice for investors.

Stressing the need for companies to absorb the costs involved, he said at a time when the world was looking at India, as a potential investment destination, high standards were required to be set in respect of corporate governance to attract more investment for sustaining high growth.

"There are listed and unlisted companies. As far as unlisted companies are concerned, SEBI has no jurisdication over them. What happens within listed companies is looked at by a number of regulators," he said.

Mr Damodaran the capital market regulator would also actively encourage trade bodies to act as self-regulatory organisations and reduce the time taken for companies to tap the capital market through public issues without lowering regulatory standards.

The SEBI chief emphasized that companies from the public and private sector, who did nothing to achieve compliance even though they could have, would be made examples of non-compliance soon.

UNI