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Seminar - Prospectus
Seminar - Prospectus
ROLL NO : 27
SCHOOL
SEMINAR - PROSPECTUS
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DECLARATION
I, Jyoti Abhilash Panickar, studying in the First Year ( Second Semester) of
LLM at S.N.D.T Women University Law School, Mumbai, hereby declare that this
fulfilment for the award of the degree of LLM, from S.N.D.T Women University Law
School, Mumbai is an authentic record of me carried out during the academic year
I further undertake that the matter embodied in the Assignment has not been
submitted previously for the award of any degree or diploma by me to any other
university or institution.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful seminar on the topic
on the topic .
Secondly, I would like to thank my family who helped me a lot in finalizing the
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INDEX
NO NO.
1 Chapter –I Introduction
Management
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Prospectus is the sole of any company. On the basis of the contents of the
prospectus, the general public makes up their mind whether to invest in that
company or not. Hence the statements in the prospectus hold a great gravity of being
absolutely true.
shares or debentures of the company or to deposit money with the company. It is the
duty of the company to see that the statements made in the prospectus are of true
nature. But if there is any false information given in the prospectus and the public
acts upon that, the Companies Act provides for provisions for the persons that who
The definition of prospectus in the Indian Companies Act 1956 was based on the
definition found in the English Companies Act and after undergoing an amendment
in 1960, it is read as
any notice, circular, advertisement or other document inviting deposits from the
public or inviting offers from the public for the subscription or purchase of any
Hence any advertisement that intends to offer to the public shares or debentures of
the company for sale is a prospectus. According to the general clauses Act 1956,
“Document shall include any matter written, expressed or described upon any
substance by means of letters, figures or marks, or by more than one of those means
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which is intended to be used, or which may be used, for the purpose or recording that
matter."
read as “ Some shares are still available for sale according to the terms of the
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CHAPTER II
Object of a prospectus :
and debentures.
3. To make a declaration that the directors of the company are liable for the
Nature of prospectus:
As said earlier that the prospectus is an invitation to the public to invest in the shares
or debentures of a company. But the term public is nowhere defined in the Companies
Act. So, far as it is related to prospectus, public is meant to be the ordinary common
people[4]. Whether or not the invitation for investment is made to the ‘public’ depends
4. Under what conditions did the member of the public accept the prospectus?
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1. When the shares and debentures are to be allotted to the existing holders of shares
and debentures.
2. When the shares and debenture to be allotted are similar to the current (already
issued) shares and debentures that are being traded in a recognized stock exchange.
3. When the allotment of shares and debenture is not permissible by law as in the
4. When the invitation is to some such person who has a contract for underwriting
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CHAPTER III
TYPES OF PROSPECTUS
1. Ordinary prospectus:
2. Deemed Prospectus:-
When a company issues its securities to issuing house and the issuing house later on
transfers these securities later on to public then the issuing house issues an offer
prospectus has all the contents of prospectus and it has to fulfill all the legal
This prospectus is issued by those companies who issue the securities by book
building process hence in this process the price of securities will be calculated
depending upon the demand from public. In this prospectus all the contents of a
regular prospectus are present however it does not have the issue price of securities.
The issue price is decided later on after which the company will issue an information
memorandum which will contain the issue price of securities along with the
necessary information.
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4. Information Memorandum:
It is a document issued by company after issue of Red herring prospectus and after
information which was not mentioned in the Red herring prospectus or shelf
Statement in lieu of Prospectus is issue by the company when the company does not
issue securities to public. This statement has all the contents of the prospectus and is
registered with ROC like the normal prospectus. This statement is issued by
company in private placements. The Slp also has the penalties if there is a
misstatement.
6. Shelf prospectus:
This is the prospectus which is issued by financial institutions and this prospectus
remains valid for twelve months. This prospectus is issued so that the financial
institution can issue the securities more than once during 12 months. During the
process of issue of shelf prospectus the financial institution must issue information
memorandum for the change on the company which have taken place in between the
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According to companies act 1956 every application form for purchasing the shares of
company must be issued only with a copy of prospectus hence application form cannot
be issued without a copy of prospectus. To save the resources and money a summary
prospectus is prepared and this summary prospectus will be attached to the application
form. This prospectus must have all the contents of a regular prospectus hence
summary prospectus is also issued in the same manner in which a regular prospectus
is issued.
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CHAPTER IV
1. Issue after the incorporation: As a rule, the prospectus of a company can only
or in relation to an intended company, shall be dated, and that date shall be taken as
with the Registrar of Companies before it is issued to the public. The procedure of
a. A copy of the prospectus, duly signed by every person who is named therein as
(i) Consent to the issue of the prospectus required under any person as an expert
confirming his written consent to the issue thereof, and that he has not withdrawn his
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(ii) Copies of all contracts entered into with respect to the appointment of the
managing director, directors and other officers of the company must also be filed with
Registrar.
(iii) If the auditor or accountant of the company has made any adjustments in the
company’s account, the said adjustments and the reasons thereof must be filed with
the documents.
(iv) There must be a copy of the application which is to be filled for the issue of the
(v) The prospectus must have the written consent of all the persons who have been
(i) A copy of the prospectus has been delivered to the Registrar for registration.
(ii) Specifies that any documents required to be endorsed by this section have been
d. A copy of the prospectus must be filed with the Registrar of Companies. The
(i) The prospectus is dated. The date shall, unless the contrary is proved, be taken
(iii) The consent of the expert, if it is necessary, has been obtained. But such expert
(iv) The written consent of the expert with respect to the issue of his statement
been attached, the Registrar can refuse to register the company’s prospectus.
e. According to the Section 60(4), no prospectus shall be issued more than ninety
days after the date on which a copy thereof is delivered for registration. Of the
company and every person who knows a party to the issue of the prospectus shall be
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CHAPTER V
CONTENTS OF PROSPECTUS
The main contents of a prospectus are:
1. Main object of the company with the names, addresses, description and
occupation of signatories to the memorandum and the number of shares subscribed for
by them.
2. Number and classes of shares and the nature and extent of the interest of holders
3. The number of redeemable preference shares intended to be issued and the date
of redemption or where no date is fixed; the period of notice required for redeeming
4. The number of shares. If any, fixed by the Article as the qualification of a director
manager together with any provision in the Articles or a contract regarding their
6. The time of opening of the subscription list should be given in the prospectus.
7. The amount payable on application and allotment on each share should be stated.
If any prospectus is issued within two years, the details of the shares subscribed for
any allotted.
8. The particular about any option or preferential right to be given to any person to
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9. The number of shares or debentures which within the two preceding year been
10. Particulars about premium received on shares within two preceding years or to be
received.
14. Where the shares are of more than one class, the rights of voting and rights as to
15. If nay reserve or profits of the company have been capitalized, particulars of
capitalizations and particulars of the surplus arising from any revaluation of the assets
of the company.
16. A reasonable time and place at which copies of all accounts on which the report
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CHAPTER VI
incest in the company’s shares or debentures. The officers of the company have
knowledge of the company’s present status and its prospects in future or have the
means to acquire such knowledge. But the potential investor has no such knowledge,
nor the means to acquire it. It, therefore, becomes the duty of those who issue the
prospectus that they not only projects the company’s image in the right perspective
but also makes sure that no vital information which could be of interest to the potential
investors in the company’s shares and debentures is left out from the company’s
prospectus. it therefore become important that the prospectus states the basic important
facts about the company with utmost honesty and good faith and that no information
that is important is twisted or partially presented. That is what is refers to as the ‘golden
In short the following must be kept in mind when preparing the prospectus of a
company:
1. The prospectus must be an honest statement of the company’s profile; there must
3. The contents of the prospectus should conform to the provision of the Companies
Act.
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5. The conditions of civil liability as laid down must be strictly adhered to issue
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CHAPTER VII
MIS-STATEMENTS IN PROSPECTUS
dishonest company promoters may practice fraud on the public money. In order to
prevent this practice the law imposes certain duties and liabilities on those persons
If, however, the prospectus contains any mis-statement of a material fact or if the
prospectus wants in any material fact, two types of liabilities will arise.
They are:
Before discussing the above we are to know the liability which may arise for Untrue
Statement. It is the duty of the authors of the prospectus to see that the prospectus
does not contain any untrue statement which may mislead the public.
included, and
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In short, untrue statement means and includes any statement which is not only a false
statement but also a statement which creates a wrong impression of actual fact.
Sec. 62(1) of the Companies Act states that such persons are liable to pay
compensation for any loss or damage which any person may suffer from the
Consequently, a person who has suffered a loss may claim contribution from the
others who were associated relating to issue of prospect until it appears that he was
According to Sec. 63(1) of the Companies Act, every person who has authorised the
imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to Rs.
5,000—or both.
Penalty:
Sec. 68 of the Companies Act provides that a person shall not, either knowingly or
debentures;
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(ii) agreement, the purpose or pretended purpose of which is to secure a profit to any
Otherwise, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
5 years or with fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000—or with both.
According to Sec. 62 (1) of the Companies Act, the following persons are liable
(a) Every person who is a director of the company at the time of the issue of the
prospectus;
(b) Every person who has authorised himself to be named and is named in the
(d) Every person who has authorised the issues of the prospectus.
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CHAPTER VIII
According to Sec. 62(2) of the Companies Act, no decree for damage shall be
passed if the person charged can prove any one of the followings:
A person is not liable if he withdrew his consent before the issue of the prospectus.
If the person can prove that the prospectus was issued without his knowledge or
consent and, after becoming aware of its issues, he gave public notice that the same
(i) It is a fair and correct copy or representation or extract of the expert’s statement;
(iii) The expert had given his consent to the issue of the prospectus;
(iv) The expert had not withdrawn his consent before registration.
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(d) True Statement:
The person charged can escape from his liability if he can prove that he had
reasonable ground to believe and did, up to the time of the allotment of shares or
Sec. 62(4) states that an expert whose opinion was included in the prospectus
If the person, on becoming aware of the untrue statement, withdrew his consent in
writing and gave public notice with reasons thereof, after delivery of the copy of the
He was competent to make such statement and he had reasonable grounds to believe
and did up to the time of the allotment of shares and debentures, believe that the
Sec. 63(1) states that a person charged in a criminal court will be acquitted if he
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(b) That he had reasonable grounds to believe and did, up to the time of the issue of
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CHAPTER IX
CASELAWS
right to run tram cars with steam power instead of with horses as before. The Act
incorporating the company provided that such power might be used with the sanction
of the Board of Trade. But, the Board of Trade refused to give permission and the
company had to be wound up. One of the shareholders sued the directors for
damages for fraud. Now, the House of Lords held that the directors were not liable in
fraud because they honestly believed what they said in the prospectus to be true.
Lord Herschel in this case observed that “Fraud is proved when it is shown that false
representation has been made (a) knowingly, (b) without belief in its truth, or, (c)
received a copy of it but did not take any shares originally in the company. The
brought 2,000 shares on the stock exchange. His action against the directors for
deceit was rejected. It was observed by the court that the office of a prospectus is to
invite persons to become allottees does not followthe shares into the hands of
subsequent transferees.
The directors sent to A, a prospectus of the company which they knew would be a
sham in order to induce A to purchase shares therein. A did not subscribe for the
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shares at that time. The prospectus, having produced but a scanty subscription for
believing in the truth of the telegram was induced to purchase shares in the open
market. The directors were held liable for the systematic fraud.
4. SAHARA vs SEBI
The Supreme Court on 31st August, 2012 in one of its most anticipated judgment of
recent times has directed the Sahara Group and its two group companies Sahara
India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment
within 3 months from the date of the order with an interest of 15%. The Supreme
Court while confirming the findings of the SAT has further asked SEBI to probe into
the matter and find out the actual investor base who have subscribed to the
Background: Earlier SIRECL and SHICL floated an issue of OFCDs and started
collecting subscriptions from investors with effect from 25th April 2008 up to 13th
April 2011. During this period, the company had a total collection of over Rs 17,656
crore. The amount was collected from about 30 million investors in the guise of a
public offerings of securities. The Whole Time Member of SEBI while taking
cognizance of the matter passed an order dated 23rd June, 2011 thereby directing the
two companies to refund the money so collected to the investors and also restrained
the promoters of the two companies including Mr. Subrata Roy from accessing the
securities market till further orders. Sahara then preferred an appeal before SAT
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against the order of the Whole Time Member and after hearing the SAT confirmed
and maintained the order of the Whole Time Member by an order dated 18th
October, 2011. Subsequently Sahara filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of
The issues raised and the corresponding observations made by the Supreme Court
Issue 3. Whether the issue of OFCDs to millions of persons who subscribed to the
Observations of SC: The Supreme Court went on to hold that although the intention
of the companies was to make the issue of OFCDs look like a private placement, it
ceases to be so when such securities are offered to more than 50 persons. Section 67(3)
specifically mentions that when any security is offered to and subscribed by more than
50 persons it will be deemed to be a Public Offer and therefore SEBI will have
jurisdiction in the matter and the issuer will have to comply with the various provisions
of the legal framework for a public issue. Although the Sahara companies contended
that they are exempted under the provisos to Sec 67 (3) since the Information
memorandum specifically mentioned that the OFCDs were issued only to those related
to the Sahara Group and there was no public offer, the Supreme Court however did
not find enough strength in this argument. The Supreme Court observed as the
companies elicited public demand for the OFCDs through issue of Information
Memorandum under Section 60B of the Companies Act, which is only meant for
Public Issues. Supreme Court also observed that since introducers were needed for
someone to subscribe to the OFCDs, it is clear that the issue was not meant for persons
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related or associated with the Sahara Group because in that case an introducer would
not be required as such a person is already associated or related to the Sahara Group.
Thus the Supreme Court concluded that the actions and intentions on the part of the
two companies clearly show that they wanted to issue securities to the public in the
garb of a private placement to bypass the various laws and regulations in relation to
that. The Court observed that the Sahara Companies have issued securities to more
than the threshold statutory limit fixed under proviso to Section 67(3) and hence
violated the listing provisions attracting civil and criminal liability. The Supreme
Court also observed that issue of OFCDs through circulation of IM to public attracted
provisions of Section 60B of the Companies Act, which required filing of prospectus
under Section 60B(9) and since the companies did not come out with a final prospectus
on the closing of the offer and failed to register it with SEBI, the Supreme Court held
that there was violation of sec 60B of the Companies Act also.
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CHAPTER X
CONCLUSION
Every person authorizing the issue of prospectus has a primary responsibility to see
that the prospectus contains the true state of affairs of the company and does not give
any fraudulent picture the public. The section 62 makes certain person liable to pay
compensation to every person who subscribes for any loss incurred who subscribes
the shares or debentures on the faith of the prospectus. But there are also some
defences available to the persons held liable for the misstatement and they can evade
the consequences if the conditions are satisfied. Hence it is clear that eveYr one is
held liable to the shareholders if any wrong is committed by the company or any
person working on behalf of the company. Law leaves no one if the wrong is proved
against them.
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CHAPTER XI
BIBLIOGRAPHY
p- 37, Paragraph-2.
from
http://www.rajputbrotherhood.com/knowledge-hub/business-studies/what-is-
prospectus-define-it-and-describe-its-main-contents.html
WEBLIOGRAPHY
http://jurisonline.in/2010/10/isuue-of-prospectus/
http://www.slideshare.net/umairnoor_aff/prospectus-company-law
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1332145
https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/business-law/misstatement-in-
prospectus-law-essays.php
http://lawmanblog.blogspot.in/2012/03/prospectus-in-company-law.html
http://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/bareacts/companies2013/26.php?Title=
Companies%20Act,%202013&STitle=Matters%20to%20be%20stated%20in
%20prospectus
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