Sebi to focus on tech, plans Geotagging to boost enforcement activities

Capital markets regulator Sebi is betting big on technology, as it plans to implement a Geotagging solution in the current financial year to strengthen the process of its enforcement activities.

While focussing on technology, Sebi said it plans to undertake various projects to boost its information technology (IT) capacity and build a "fault-tolerant" architecture.

The move is aimed at further enhancing its technological and cybersecurity capability, and to better serve its stakeholders.

"In the coming year, Sebi plans to implement a Geotagging Solution to strengthen the process of its enforcement activities," the regulator said in its annual report for 2022-23.

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information usually in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates to various media such as photos, videos, etc.

The project intends to implement geotagging technology-based mobile application solutions, which help the market regulator to take necessary photos or videos at the location with details such as location, date, and time for conducting site visits, surveys, and training programs.

"The Geotagging Solution is expected to be operationalized in 2023-24," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

In addition, the regulator is looking to use technology to develop a cyber capability index (CCI) that can objectively evaluate the cybersecurity readiness of regulated entities and Sebi itself.

Apart from this, Sebi is planning to take measures for ease of doing business initiatives with the help of technology.

The capital markets regulator is planning to integrate its e-registration system with agencies like DigiLocker and National Institute Of Securities Market (NISM) through application programming interface (APIs) to facilitate real-time verification of information submitted by intermediaries.

Also, it is considering introducing an online document verification facility to ensure the authenticity of documents and notices sent by Sebi.