Cross-border internet advisory services under regulatory lens

Web-based entities lead to a jurisdictional quandary

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is monitoring securities market services and offers through the internet.

“We are keeping an eye on it,” said a senior Sebi official.

Since the internet allows access across borders, web-based entities can reach clients in any jurisdiction. However, jurisdictional issues mean the securities market regulator has to look into the actions of an entity, based out of its reach.

Tajinder Singh, Deputy Secretary General of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which has been working on issues related to regulation of internet offers, which may originate from outside a regulator’s jurisdiction, said IOSCO was working on a paper on the same.

KEEPING AN EYE
Internet mighty need regulators without borders

• Internet-based entities provide services to people in different countries
• Customers can use the services irrespective of physical location, since access is through the web
• However, regulators are confined by geography
• They cannot reach the entities because these are located in a region outside their jurisdiction
• IOSCO flags issue, working on paper about the same
• Sebi keeping an eye on the trend

Speaking at a regional conference on investor protection in capital markets in Mumbai, Singh said IOSCO was also looking into the role of social media in the securities market.

Sebi Chairman U K Sinha, who also spoke at the conference, said the markets regulator, too, is looking into the role of social media in the capital markets.

IOSCO took various measures to encourage its members to sign the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Consultation and Cooperation and the Exchange of Information. It also approved a resolution restricting the influence of non-signatory members at the international body.

There were 97 signatories to the memorandum as of September, according to a document on the IOSCO website out of the 125 eligible IOSCO members.

The number of requests for cross-border assistance has risen over 350 per cent in the past six years, according to IOSCO. It went up from 520 in 2006 to 2,374 in 2012.

IOSCO is an international organization of securities regulators. Its members regulate more than 95% of the securities markets across the world and are present across 115 jurisdictions.