SEBI plans regulatory overhaul to enhance transparency and market efficiency | File Photo
Mumbai: In a move to boost trust, transparency, and turbocharge market growth, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will soon scrap all outdated regulations, which are not serving any purpose.
There will be no biggest shake-up or big-bang market reforms, but SEBI’s plan is to tailor regulation specifically to the needs and strengths of the capital market and the domestic economy.
First, the outdated rules and regulations may be abandoned, and consider reducing compliance requirements for low risk firms, funds and other entities, but will maintain the most stringent requirements for firms with high risks, and indeed largest and most complex institutions may need more attention despite the fact that many of them follow feasible and world-class business models.
“SEBI will relook at redundant and outdated regulations, which are not serving any purpose. To ensure effective market regulations, small and cumulative reforms are important, not big-bang reforms”, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said here on Friday.
Market men and investors are bullish on the new SEBI chief’s words, saying, these words, if kept, will be one of biggest overhauls in market regulations for more than three decades since SEBI’s inception in 1988.
The Indian capital market is one of the oldest markets in the world, and it needs reforms, and from time to time overhauling of market regulations and abolishing of outdated rules and laws are important to keep pace with international developments, boost investor confidence, and achieve sustainable market development. The 150-year old BSE is Asia’s first stock exchange. Over the past 30 years, it has facilitated the growth of the Indian corporate sector by providing it with an efficient capital-raising platform.
Today BSE provides an efficient and transparent market for trading in equity, currencies, debt instruments, derivatives, mutual funds. NSE commenced operations in 1994 with the launch of the wholesale debt market, followed shortly after by the launch of the cash market segment. NSE’s positions across asset classes shows the high liquidity of the exchange.
From April 2024 to January 2025, Indian markets have witnessed a record equity issuance of Rs 4 trillion, which is twice the amount raised in the previous year. Easy access to capital markets is essential for expansion, productivity, and innovation, which in turn fuels economic growth. New financial instruments, including real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts play a key role in attracting long-term capital, both in equity and debt markets.
