Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996 have been amended by Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013. The amendments which make some changes in the authority of SEBI and the way it is enforced have come into effect from 18th of July, 2013 if not specified otherwise.
As per the amendments, a deeming provision has been inserted to deem any pooling of funds under any scheme or arrangement, involving a corpus amount of INR 100 crore or more, to be a collective investment scheme even if the same is not registered with SEBI or not covered under sub-section (3) of Section 11AA of the SEBI Act.
Further powers for search and seizure, to be exercised by officers authorized by the Chairman, have been given, in case the person to whom notice had been issued, has failed to provide any information; would not provide any information; or would destroy, alter or falsify the information relevant to investigation.
New provisions further provide for settlement of administrative and civil proceedings and establishment of special courts which for the purpose of said provisions would deem to be Court of Session. New Section 28A has been inserted to provide for recovery of penalty or fees due to the Board. These new provisions have also been incorporated in the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996.