NSE IPO will see light of the day: Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey

Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Friday assured that the much-delayed NSE share sale will eventually see "light of the day".

Speaking at an event organised by the Business Standard, Pandey said a panel, formed after the exit of his predecessor Madhabi Puri Buch to suggest a mechanism for the capital markets regulator to disclose conflict of interest, is likely to submit its suggestions by November 10.

Replying to a specific question on the NS IPO, Pandey said, "It will see the light of the day". He, however, did not elaborate or offer any timelines on the same.

On concerns surrounding the expense ratio for the mutual fund industry, Pandey said Sebi's recent draft on fee structures emanates from the need to provide clarity and remove any anomalies.

"What has been indicated in the draft is a practical way of reconciling the interests of the industry and the investor. We have a balancing to do. We are saying that we need to be more transparent, investors need to know," Pandey said in the comments that come after selling pressures in mutual fund and brokerage stocks after the release of the draft paper.

He also said Sebi will be discussing ways to popularise the small amount SIPs, admitting that the sachetisation has not taken off as desired.

On the issue of foreign portfolio investors' selling in Indian markets, Pandey said USD 4 billion of selling by a set of investors holding over USD 900 billion of assets does not make him "unduly worried".

Citing his interactions with the FPIs across the world, Pandey said the confidence they have in India is very high, and added that these investors operate in many markets and evaluate their positions based on aspects such as valuations, which may lead to certain moves.

These interactions with the FPI community have helped Sebi understand the pain points and initiate steps to simplify the access for such investors into India or initiate digitalisation initiatives, he said.

On the subject of the report on conflict of interest, Pandey said the panel has spoken to internal and external stakeholders over the past few weeks and shall submit recommendations by November 10, which Sebi will go into.

He underlined that trust is very important for capital markets, and one of the ways to earn it is through fair application of regulations.

On the issue of financial influencers, Pandey said Sebi has been issuing 5,000 takedown orders per month and the overall takedowns of violative content have crossed 1 lakh across platforms, including Meta, Google and X.

Pandey said Sebi has sufficient powers from a legal perspective.