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Sebi proposes higher ISIN limits to smooth private debt redemptions
The consultation would lift annual ISIN maturities for privately placed debt from 14 to 17, with extra room for large issuers to spread repayments once plain vanilla debt maturing hits ₹15,000 crore.
India’s markets regulator Sebi has proposed giving companies more flexibility to spread out repayments on privately placed debt securities, aiming to reduce liquidity pressure as maturities cluster in a single financial year.
In a consultation paper, Sebi said it would increase the maximum number of International Securities Identification Numbers, ISINs, that can mature annually from 14 to 17 for privately placed debt. The regulator also proposed allowing issuers up to 12 ISINs for plain vanilla debt securities, versus nine currently, and adding five more ISINs for structured, market-linked, floating-rate, zero-coupon, and debt capital instrument categories.
Sebi said the current limits hamper liquidity management and can worsen asset-liability mismatches, particularly for non-banking financial companies. Under the proposed framework for large issuers, one additional ISIN could be permitted for every subsequent ₹3,000 crore of plain vanilla debt outstanding maturing in a financial year after the total reaches ₹15,000 crore.
Separately, Sebi proposed easing listing requirements for older unlisted debt securities. Under the change, past unlisted non-convertible debt issues would be allowed to remain unlisted when a company lists its debt for the first time, while any debt issued after that initial listing would continue to require listing. The consultation paper also noted that the share of listed debt issuance in total debt issuance fell to 76.55% in June 2026 from 80.81% in September 2023, and the consultation is open for public comments until 31 August.