You can't regulate your own thing: Sebi chief on exchange self-listing

Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2026, Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said exchange self-listing raises regulatory concerns over who regulates an exchange's own shares

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) could consider safeguards for allowing stock exchanges to list their own shares, but a review of the existing framework has not been actively initiated, said Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey at the BFSI Insight Summit in Mumbai on Wednesday.

 

“Exchanges are also regulators, and if your own scrip is trading, you can’t be a regulator on your own thing,” Pandey said in a fireside chat with Business Standard's AK Bhattacharya.

 

“Our model has been that self-listing is not allowed currently,” he said, adding that Sebi would have to examine whether appropriate safeguards could be introduced to change the existing approach.

 

 

Pandey's comments come weeks after the public listing of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Questions have been raised about whether NSE shares could be included in indices such as the Nifty 50 if the exchange were to list its own shares on its platform.

'Self-listing has pros and cons'

While Pandey acknowledged that several global markets permit the practice of self listing, India’s framework differs because it has multiple stock exchanges.

 

“This is not something which is without pros and cons, and therefore we need to have wider consideration on that,” Pandey said.

 

He said Sebi could study international experience, including that of European exchanges and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), before deciding whether changes were warranted. 

 

“We can also see whether there is a merit in really doing it or whether we can continue with the present model. Different options may be possible,” he said.

 

The proposal has not been ruled out, but it is not under active consideration either, Pandey said.

'Reviving closed exchanges depends on feasibility'

On the possibility of reviving closed stock exchanges, including the Calcutta Stock Exchange, Pandey said Sebi’s existing framework does not rule out the establishment of new exchanges.

 

“We do have a framework, and the framework doesn't preclude that no new exchanges would be permitted,” he said.

 

The framework sets out governance requirements, capital requirements and restrictions on shareholding. Any proposal to establish or revive an exchange would have to meet these requirements, he said.

 

Pandey said the market had changed since the period when regional stock exchanges operated across the country. Most regional exchanges have since closed, with the Calcutta Stock Exchange among the last to shut down, he said.

 

Trading is now conducted electronically, with investors accessing Indian exchanges from different parts of the country and overseas.

 

“Liquidity is a very, very important consideration. Just reviving an exchange is one thing, but whether you would be able to really make it feasible is another,” Pandey said.

 

He said the business plan would need to establish whether an exchange could attract enough clients to sustain its operations.

'Technology investment a key requirement'

Pandey said exchanges would need substantial and continuous investment in technology to operate in the current market environment.

 

“You have to invest very heavily in technology today, and the technological requirements will only grow manifold,” he said.

 

He added that exchanges would face increasing risks, including those associated with artificial intelligence, which makes sustained technology investment necessary.

 

A viable business plan would need to account for these costs and assess whether sufficient clients would trade on the platform, he said.

 

Pandey also said electronic trading had reduced the importance of an exchange’s physical location for investors, although infrastructure such as co-location facilities remained relevant to brokers.

 

Exchanges considering revival would therefore need to assess whether their proposed operating models could remain viable in a market where participants can trade from different locations.