Sebi, NISM to hold special conference for public interest directors of MIIs

Regulator Sebi and its educational initiatives venture NISM will bring together public interest directors of all market infrastructure institutions under one roof for a two-day conference, beginning Thursday, to discuss various regulations and operational issues concerning the capital market.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) are organising this conference on February 13-14 at the NISM campus in Patalganga.

The market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories, are known as gateways to capital market services and also serve as first-level regulators and help in delivery of regulatory goals.

The MIIs assume a critical role in the efficient and orderly conduct of capital markets as they facilitate all market processes and make available all the capital market-related products and services.

Considering the pivotal role MIIs play, there is an increasing need for constant interaction between Sebi and the governing board of MIIs and especially the public interest directors of all MIIs, the NISM said in a statement.

The conference will discuss issues such as Sebi regulations for stock exchanges and clearing corporations, corporate governance issues, recent developments like interoperability, delivery of securities for settlement of derivative trades, algorithmic trading, use of AI and machine learning by MIIs in different functions, technology deployed by financial services industry, emerging risks for capital markets, and cybersecurity issues.

The discussions will be led by several experts, including former Sebi chairman M Damodaran, Professor J R Verma (Professor IIM-Ahmedabad and Chairman, Sebi's Secondary Market Advisory Committee), Sharad Sharma of iSPIRT and also MD & CEOs of stock exchanges and clearing corporations.

Senior officials of Sebi such as whole-time members, executive directors and chief general managers will also be associated with this conference.

The NISM said the conference will help public interest directors connect with Sebi as well as with one another and understand diverse viewpoints first hand which will help them taking informed decisions during subsequent Board deliberations.