From regulator to jewellery seller

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will complete three decades next year. Over the years, the role of the market regulator has expanded with changing market dynamics. Recently, Sebi was given more powers such as search and seizure and disgorgement. This involves attaching and auctioning the assets of wrongdoers. “When I joined Sebi in 1989, it was just a securities market regulator. Now it has become a real estate agent and even a jewellery seller,” quipped a senior Sebi official at an event.