Wednesday, September 14 2005 16:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Taking note of timing and veracity of stock-sensitive announcements made by some companies, including from the oil sector, market regulator SEBI today (Sept 14, 2005) said 'standards are required' to determine what needs to be shared in the public domain and at what time.

"Clearly, it is good to have systems in place which let us know what is the right time to make an announcement, when is something pre-mature and when mature," SEBI chairman M Damodaran told reporters here on the sidelines of a CII conference on Corporate Governance.

The SEBI chief, however, asserted that action would be taken in case it received a formal complaint about manipulation in any company. "If we get a complaint, we will act on it," he said.

Asked whether there is a need for a mechanism to determine the timing and veracity of notices, especially in view of the market regulator's observation after comments by Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) V K Sibal on announcements made by ONGC, he said 'standards are required' but refused to make any direct comment on the matter.

Even though the DGH has a system to determine when to make an announcement on discoveries, it is working with SEBI on how to relate it to capital markets, Damodaran said.

"DGH is already working on it. It already has something in place, but how to relate it to capital market requirements, we have already started working," he said.