Securities laws set for reset as FM introduces Bill for unified code

The Code also attempts to decriminalise certain violations which are procedural or technical in nature into civil penalties

Securities market regulations are set for their biggest overhaul in decades as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday introduced the Securities Markets Code (SMC) Bill 2025, a unified regulation that will repeal three existing Acts, in the Lok Sabha. 

The Bill seeks to consolidate and replace the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Act, 1992, and the Depositories Act, 1996. 

The SMC aims to build a principle-based legislative framework, reduce compliance burden, remove redundant concepts, and incorporate standard processes. 

To improve regulatory certainty, the Bill codifies an arm’s-length separation between Sebi’s fact-finding functions