new delhi the securities and exchange board of india sebi on tuesday said that it would gradually phase out buyback of shares by companies through the stock exchange route sebi chairperson madhabi puri buch said the regulator has chosen the tender offer route for share buyback as the present mode is vulnerable to favouritismat present companies have both options of stock exchange and tender offerthis means that buyback from the open market will be phased out in a gradual manner and until then a separate window will be created the stock exchanges to conduct such repurchaseschanges will create a level playing field for all investors buch said at a subsequent briefingin an official statement sebi also increased the minimum utilisation amount for buybacks through stock exchange to 75 from 50it has also permitted upward revision of buy back price until 1 worling day prior to record date the markets regulator also approved steps to boost governance at stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutionsthese amendments aim to streamline the process of buyback create a level playing field for investors and promote ease of doing business the statement saidstrengthens governance norms for stock exchangessebi also decided to amend the governance norms for stock exchanges and market infrastructure institutions including categorising their functions into three verticals and rationalising the appointment process for public interest directorsthe changes cleared by the board have been finalised after a comprehensive review of the governance of miis stock exchanges clearing corporations and depositoriesgoing forward the function of an mii will be categorised into three verticals critical operations regulatory compliance and risk management and other functions including business developmentthe key management personnel kmps heading the functions under the first two verticals will be at par in the hierarchy with the kmps heading the third vertical also miis will have to give higher priority to the resource allocation towards the functions under the first two verticalsin a release sebi said that miis will be required to mandatorily appoint public interest directors pids with background and expertise in the areas of technology law and regulation finance and accounts and capital marketspids will continue to meet every six months and in addition to the submission of a report to the board of the mii they will be required to submit a report to sebi after the meetingwith inputs from agencies