Sebi issues manual to provide guidance on Industry Standards Fora

Sebi on Wednesday said it has released the Industry Standards Recognition Manual to provide guidance on the formation and functioning of Industry Standards Fora, which help in implementing regulatory instructions.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had launched a pilot programme for Industry Standards Fora (ISFs) in July 2023, to develop implementation standards for regulatory guidelines.

Initially, the ISFs were set up for listed companies and stock brokers. Based on feedback from market participants and industry bodies, while similar fora were later introduced for other stakeholders, including portfolio managers, custodians, designated depository participants, and alternative investment funds, Sebisaid in a release.

The market participants found these ISFs useful in facilitating good governance and high quality compliance with regulatory directives but also ensuring ease of compliance, it added.

However, the ISFs are operating as pilot programmes, as there are no norms in respect of their formation and functioning since each forum works with the flexibility of identifying mechanisms it finds most efficient in its functioning.

This has led to different modes for constitution and functioning including with respect to the regulations/circulars that should be taken up for formulation of implementation standards, stage at which Sebiis to be consulted, manner in which industry views are to be gathered, etc, the release said.

To address this, Sebihas framed a set of self-guiding principles to streamline ISFs, ensuring they operate in a representative and efficient manner.

The Industry Standards Recognition Manual outlines these principles to enhance uniformity and ease of compliance.