Mumbai

Marketregulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is not considering any proposal to allow self-trading in the bourses’ shares at present, Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said.

“ There is no such thing going on. It will be, if it happens or when it happens, you will come to know. So, there is no such thing at the moment,” Pandey said on the sidelines of the Association of Portfolio Managers in India’s annual conference 2026.

The SEBI chairman was replying to a specific question on the subject, following reports of the market regulator mulling setting up a panel to examine whether exchanges like the BSE and NSE could eventually be allowed to trade in their own shares.

On bond indices and derivatives, Pandey said Sebi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are pursuing the finalisation of draft guidelines. “Yes, I believe they have prepared some draft guidelines and asked for comments, and I think we are pursuing with RBI to finalise,” he said. Pandey, however, said he could not give any timeline for finalisation of the guidelines, saying it needed to be checked with RBI.

On attracting foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), Pandey said SEBI and RBI were working to make the registration and onboarding process faster, seamless and digital. He said Sebi has revamped the NSDL portal and introduced the India Market Access portal for FPIs, besides a common application portal that allows applicants to track their applications.

SEBI is also encouraging digital onboarding, including digital signatures. “The KYC process is also getting more streamlined,” Pandey said. On continuous listing requirements, Pandey said exchanges should properly pursue compliance as investors need confidence that listed companies are genuine listed entities.

“It’s a process, but we have said that it should be properly pursued because, after all, the investors are there and the investors must have some confidence that these listed companies are really the listed companies,” he said.

The SEBI chief, while addressing the event, also said that the Independent Fund Managers can create space for investment professionals and entrepreneurial talent to operate in association with an established Portfolio Manager. “At the same time, accountability must remain clear.”

He added that the registered portfolio managers will continue to bear responsibility for the activities of the Independent Fund Manager. The SEBI chief also said technology can augment investment judgment but cannot outsource accountability, stressing that investment professionals must understand the assumptions behind algorithms used in decision-making.

New Delhi

AsIndia’s investment universe expands, portfolio management services (PMS) could potentially grow at more than 20 per cent annually, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday. Speaking at 3rd annual investor conference of the Association of Portfolio Managers in India (APMI), Pandey said several components of India’s investment universe have been growing at rates of more than 15 per cent, creating scope for PMS to expand at a faster pace.

According to him, most of the components of the investing universe in India have been growing at over 15 per cent CAGR. In fact, PMS can go over 20 per cent, he said. However, the SEBI chairman did not present the figure as a formal growth projection but highlighted the potential for investment products as wealth creation and investor participation increase.He also noted that the PMS industry also needs to establish its role in an increasingly diverse investment landscape, where products such as mutual funds and alternative investment funds (AIFs) serve different categories of investors. “Let’s not discount the fact that we have other means. They have a mutual fund industry and AIF. These are components that are meeting different kind of clientele. They do not necessarily compete with each other,” Pandey said.