'Investor-friendly' Sebi to launch ad campaign next month

Aimed at increasing investor awareness and penetration

Sebi's new year gift for investors

Multi-language toll-free helpline

One-time KYC for opening trading account

Setting up of investor grievance redressal centres

Circuit filters and extension of call auction to IPO and relisted scrips

Increase in inspection and monitoring of intermediaries

After a series of investor-friendly measures, the capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to back it up with a first-of-its-kind advertising campaign, which is expected to be launched next month. The campaign will have a primary objective of spreading investor awareness in a bid to increase penetration. It will do so by trying to demystify the securities market for investors and will also highlight some of the recently launched initiatives like the toll-free helpline. The campaign will be in various languages and across platforms including print, radio and television.

“We intend to launch the media campaign within a month,” said a senior Sebi official, without specifying the exact launch date.

The regulator has earmarked about Rs 12 crore for the media campaign and investor awareness programmes for the year 2011-12.

In the past, the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has regularly used the print and the electronic media to alert the public about various fictitious schemes and fake currencies.

“The level of retail investor participation in the Indian market is far less than what we aspire at Sebi. Despite some downsides, our economy and market has been growing but the benefits are not reaching the households,”Sebi chairman UK Sinha had said at an event earlier this month. “The major issue is level of financial literacy and market awareness in this country.”

The Sebi boss has vowed to increase awareness and education among investors and also simplify investing to improve investor experience. The media campaign is a part of this agenda.

The capital market regulator has introduced several initiatives in the New Year to make investor's life easier. It has set up a 14-language toll-free helpline for investors for assistance on various market-related issues and complaints. To make switching trading account hassle-free, it has introduced one-time know your client (KYC), which enables investors to change their brokerages without undergoing the KYC. In order to curb listing day volatility, Sebi has introduced circuit filters for IPO and relisted stocks on first day.