SEBI Chairman cautions investors and traders about 'Finfluencer'!

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Tuhin Kant Pandey on Monday cautioned investors and traders against finfluencers and people luring them with windfall returns. SEBI Chairman's warning has come at a time when the Indian market is growing rapidly and the number of investors is also increasing along with the market cap.

Speaking at the launch of SEBI's 'Project Jagrook' at Panjab University, Pandey said more families are now investing in the capital markets and they are getting access to products that were hardly available a decade ago.

“Households are also investing a large part of their savings in securities market instruments,” he said. He also said that Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) have emerged as one of the easiest ways to invest for retail investors.

Emphasizing on expanding the market ecosystem, Pandey said SEBI has simplified the categories of mutual fund schemes, capped costs and introduced lower amount SIPs to enable more people to participate.

He said India's market capitalization has increased four times in the last decade to about Rs 472 lakh crore, while foreign portfolio investor (FPI) assets have increased from Rs 22 lakh crore to Rs 78 lakh crore.

According to Pandey, SEBI introduced a simplified FPI framework, which eased digital onboarding and helped improve the 'ease of doing business' for foreign investors.

He said the regulator has also expanded the scope of market participants and products by introducing investment advisors, ESG rating companies and new financing channels for startups and infrastructure projects.

Pandey said India's capital markets system has moved from primarily supporting domestic investment to positioning the country as a potential hub for global fund management activities.

He said access to capital markets has increased through the SME IPO platform, while the IPO listing time has been reduced from T+6 to T+3 working days.

On improvements in market infrastructure, Pandey said India was the first market to test T+1 settlement and was one of the first countries to facilitate interoperability between clearing corporations.

He said online bond platforms have been launched to increase access to corporate bonds in the debt market, while green, sustainable and municipal bonds have opened up new avenues to raise capital.