Capital markets to play bigger role in funding economic growth: Sebi chief

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said that a large part of the non-banking financial intermediation is happening through the capital markets, and going ahead, they will play a bigger role in the economic growth of the country.

"Going forward, the capital markets are going to play a bigger role in funding the economic growth," he said.

Addressing the 18th Annual Capital Markets Conference, organised by FICCI, Tyagi said that going forward the focus area for the SEBI will be on strengthening the robustness of capital markets.

"The household financial savings deployed in the securities market is rising and sustaining it will give tremendous boost to both the capital markets and the economy," he added.

On IPOs, fund raising and disclosures, he said said that the success of IPOs from new age tech companies will attract more funds and help create a new eco-system of entrepreneurs and investors.

"The SEBI is constantly reviewing the regime. The framework for minimum public shareholding was revised to make it easier for large companies to make an IPO. Focus on review of equity fundraising norms will continue in future and the SEBI's Primary Market Committee is deliberating if SPAC framework should be introduced in India. From raising through traditional equity and debt instruments, corporates have diversified into a large number of new instruments. As the market dynamics change, even more innovative instruments are likely to appear."

The SEBI chief said that the regulator has been active in the efforts to strengthen the market and several reforms are in the pipeline.

For listing of start-ups, a separate platform 'Innovators Growth Platform' was created.

"For fund raising requirements of the social sector, we are in the process of setting up of an entire eco-system called 'Social Stock Exchange'," he added.

On the issue of corporate governance, he said that while independent directors have an important role, other directors should also play a more active role in company management.

There is a need to continuously improve the corporate governance standards and transparency should come from within the company itself, he added.

"With the increased awareness and maturing of capital markets, well-governed companies carry the trust of investors and reap benefits in the long run. I urge FICCI to step up its efforts on corporate governance improvement of its members. If industry self-governs well, the need for the regulator to step in every time will not arise," he emphasised.

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd MD & CEO Vikram Limaye said that the digital adoption and addition of new customers will continue on an accelerated trajectory in coming years. He said that SEBI is working with other stakeholders to reduce the listing time further and it is expected to be reduced to 2-3 days.

FICCI President Uday Shankar said that that the capital market functioned smooth despite the pandemic and the listing of new age companies has brought depth to the market.

"We need simplification of the listing process and should also create an efficient process for delisting," he added.

--IANS

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