The Securities and Exchange Board of India plans to reduce the time between the close of initial public offerings and their listing to lessen scope for price manipulation, Chairman C B Bhave told reporters following his first board meeting after taking charge.

He said the board would soon consider proposals by a committee on this issue and added that institutional investors may have to pay a higher amount of commitment money than 10 per cent currently.

The Sebi board also slashed by 80 per cent fees for stock market intermediaries on filing offer documents for public issues, rights issues and mutual funds.

The new fee structure will come into effect from April 1, 2008, Bhave said, benefiting small investors investing in mutual funds.

Meanwhile, Sebi also constituted a committee comprising independent board members to take forward investigations into an IPO scam in 2006 that saw manipulators opening thousands of demat accounts to corner share allotments.

National Securities Depositories Ltd, which Bhave headed before taking charge at Sebi, was criticised by the market regulator for inadequate vigilance.

The committee, comprising V Leeladhar, RBI deputy governor; Anurag Goel, secretary, ministry of corporate affairs, and Mohan Gopal, director of Bhopal-based National Judicial Academy, is aimed at ring-fencing Bhave

The committee will seek advice from Maharashtra Advocate General Ravi Kadam, said a Sebi release.

The board also approved a proposal to allow members of the Madras Stock Exchange to trade on the National Stock Exchange platform, subject to adequate safeguards, said Bhave.

He said the move is aimed at helping regional stock exchanges, which are struggling for survival as most brokers trade on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.