Sebi is expected to make some modifications on the draft regulations issued earlier this year following representation from the credit rating agencies. The draft guidelines had suggested bar on credit rating agencies to assess bonds, debentures and other financial instruments floated by their promoters holding more than 10 per cent equity.

The guidelines also prevented promoters to have representations on the board of the rating agencies. Sources said, instead of barring agencies from rating promoters instruments, the regulator would make it mandatory for promoters to get their instruments rated from two rating agencies instead of one.

However, credit rating agency sources said mandatory rating by more than one agency was not going tomake much of a difference for promoters, including IDBI, IFCI, ICICI and SBI as most of them get their instruments rated by more than one firms. Sources said the new rules would be applicable to only fresh issues floated by the promoters and the rating firms would be allowed to continue the ratings of existing financial instruments of promoters.

On the removal of promoter representative from the board of a rating firm, industry sources said this was also not expected to have much impact as two agencies -- Credit Rating and Information Services Ltd (Crisil) and ICRA -- did not have any representative on their board either from IFCI, SBI, ICICI and LIC.