In a land lumbered for years by its triplicate-loving officialdom, a ballroom full of finest minds from the Indian finance arena gathered for the Financial Express CFO Awards, 2025 on late Friday evening, experienced a whiff of fresh air with a regulator exuding reform-readiness riding on a consultative approach and a “commitment to engage with stakeholders and work as a team.”
In an era of uncertainty, India, with its enticing and intriguing scale, size, challenges and contradictions, has been in the spotlight globally. The most populous, young, cricket-loving, fastest growing large economy on the planet has had a stock market figuring among the top bourses in the world witnessing both an unstoppable rally and the subsequent rollercoaster ride.
It is perhaps with good reason that there was an air of anticipation at the FE awards evening on the regulator’s stance to addressing some prickly issues plaguing the industry while building new expectations. Industry has been hoping for deep reforms across the board – from a less paper-heavy regulatory process to creating a regulated platform for unlisted securities. Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey’s interactions at the FE CFO Awards, 2025, have only heightened the prospects for stakeholder consultations.
The industry has questions galore: For instance, will the markets regulator hasten steps towards ensuring processes that are less paper-heavy and more electronic, in tune with a country that has pioneered a digital public infrastructure that works and is now being sought and emulated by other countries? Is there a case for creating a regulated RFQ (Request For Quote) platform for unlisted securities (like the one for listed debentures)? Will there be review of regulations for independent directors? What about the applicability and implications of new regulations for small and medium enterprises to raise funds from the public.
Seated, cupped chin and all ears, one finance guru, not wanting to be named, had this to say about Tuhin Kanta Pandey: He has been coming across as a listening-leader who need not necessarily ‘know-it-all’ and this is certainly welcome. This apparently to many was more eloquent than some of the specific measures announced. That there was now a “willingness to get bold and reformist even as there were still many areas of concern” was the message that seemed to matter.
Little over 100 days in office as the Indian capital markets regulator, Pandey, albeit with the classic regulator’s rhetorical restraint, did not miss to convey the message of a regulator deeply conscious of the cost of compliance and always open to consultations and correctives. “We are actively working to strike a balance between regulatory rigour and ease of doing business,” he assured.
And also that the regulator was “open to deliberate the genuine concerns of the industry.” He described the policy-making process at Sebi as one that involved “extensive discussion with the stakeholders. Feedback received through public consultation are deliberated within Sebi and in advisory committee meetings.” Which was apparently a reason why, “around 100 consultation papers were issued in FY 2024-25” as a “testimony to our commitment to engage with stakeholders and work as a team.” Hopefully, there will be more of these in the days and months ahead.