Revamping India's Investment Landscape

India's Securities and Exchange Board, led by Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, plans reforms to attract foreign investors by expediting registration, reducing trading costs, and easing short-selling. The focus is on enhancing liquidity in cash markets and reviewing regulations on derivatives as well as short-selling to stabilize the market.

In a bid to attract more foreign investors, India is set to introduce a series of regulatory reforms. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) aims to expedite registration processes, reduce trading costs, and simplify the short-selling mechanism, according to its chief, Tuhin Kanta Pandey.

Pandey, who took the helm of SEBI in March, is addressing concerns raised by foreign investors over procedural delays and high transaction costs. His strategy seeks to boost liquidity in the cash equity market and modify rules surrounding margins and derivatives, a sector experiencing a 300-fold size increase compared to the cash market.

Furthermore, the regulatory body is contemplating 'product suitability' rules for derivatives, which will impose restrictions on amateur investors. As part of its larger strategy, SEBI is also in talks to introduce netting provisions, a move that could ease foreign investment by reducing the required capital for trade operations.

(With inputs from agencies.)