How is the Stock Market Regulated in India
How is the Stock Market Regulated in India
How is the Stock Market Regulated in India
26-08-2023
05:25 PM
1 min read
• Why in News?
• Powers of SEBI
• News Summary
Why in News?
• On February 10, the Supreme Court asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
and the Union Government to produce the existing regulatory framework in place to protect
investors from share market volatility.
• A stock market is a platform where one can invest in various financial instruments, including
shares, bonds, futures and derivatives.
• Most of the trading in the Indian stock market takes place on the following two stock
exchanges –
• The BSE has been in existence since 1875. The NSE, on the other hand, was founded in 1992
and started trading in 1994.
o However, both exchanges follow the same trading mechanism, trading hours, and
settlement process.
• Almost all the significant firms of India are listed on both the exchanges.
• Trading at both the exchanges takes place through an open electronic limit order book in
which order matching is done by the trading computer.
• The entire process is order-driven, which means that market orders placed by investors are
automatically matched with the best limit orders.
• The advantage of an order-driven market is that it brings more transparency by displaying all
buy and sell orders in the trading system.
• All orders in the trading system need to be placed through brokers, many of which provide
an online trading facility to retail customers.
• The overall responsibility of development, regulation, and supervision of the stock market
rests with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• The SEBI is a statutory regulatory body established by the Government of India in 1992. It
was given statutory powers through the SEBI Act, 1992.
o Objective: To regulate the securities market in India and protect the interests of
investors in securities.
• SEBI was established to keep a check on unfair and malpractices and protect the investors
from such malpractices.
• The organization was created to meet the requirements of the following three groups –
o Issuers: SEBI works toward providing a marketplace to the investors where they can
efficiently and fairly raise their funds.
Powers of SEBI
• Quasi-judicial powers –
o In case of frauds and unethical practices pertaining to the securities market, SEBI has
the power to pass judgments.
• Quasi-executive powers –
o SEBI has the power to examine the Book of Accounts and other vital documents to
identify or gather evidence against violations.
o If it finds one violating the regulations, the regulatory body has the power to
impose rules, pass judgements and take legal actions against violators.
o The SCRA empowers SEBI to recognise (and derecognise) stock exchanges, prescribe
rules and bye laws for their functioning, and regulate trading, clearing and
settlement on stock exchanges.
• Quasi-legislative powers –
o To protect the interest of investors, the authoritative body has been entrusted with
the power to formulate suitable rules and regulations.
o Such rules tend to encompass the listing obligations, insider trading regulations and
essential disclosure requirements.
▪ The body formulates such rules and regulation to get rid of malpractices that
are prevalent in the securities market.
• While SEBI does not interfere to prevent market volatility, exchanges have circuit filters —
upper and lower — to prevent excessive volatility.
• But SEBI can issue directions to those who are associated with the market, and has powers to
regulate trading and settlement on stock exchanges.
• Using these powers, SEBI can direct stock exchanges to stop trading, totally or selectively.
• It can also prohibit entities or persons from buying, selling or dealing in securities, from
raising funds from the market and being associated with intermediaries or listed
companies.
News Summary
• The Supreme Court recently asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the
government to produce the existing regulatory framework in place to protect Indian
investors.
• The Supreme Court did this in the backdrop of a report published by US-based Hindenburg
Research which led to sudden market volatility following a meltdown in the Adani Group
shares.
o This volatility led to Indian investors losing several lakhs of crores in the past two
weeks.
• The Supreme Court flagged its concern for Indian investors and highlighted the need to
protect them from such sudden market volatility in the future.
• The court has asked SEBI to submit a note detailing the legal and factual aspects of the
existing regulatory framework for the securities market.
A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity asset, or security at a
predetermined price at a specified time in the future.