India's SEBI Seeks Expanded Powers to Curb Unauthorized Financial Advice Online

India's market regulator SEBI is requesting broader powers to remove unauthorized financial advice from social media and access call records for market violations investigations. While similar powers exist for other agencies, SEBI's earlier requests remain pending. Telegram and WhatsApp have resisted data-sharing citing current IT laws.

India's market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), is pushing for expanded powers to weed out unauthorized financial advice proliferating on social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

This latest appeal to the government seeks access to call and message records, a capability currently reserved for other enforcement bodies but not for financial regulators.

The request underscores SEBI's intensified effort to crack down on market violations. However, social media giants, including Meta's WhatsApp, have resisted, citing legal restrictions, creating a legal and regulatory impasse.