Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to take the lead in establishing uniform Know Your Customer (KYC) norms across the financial sector, aiming to simplify compliance and enable seamless periodic updates for investors.
Addressing Sebi’s 38th foundation day, Sitharaman emphasised the need for a “seamless, secure and portable” KYC framework across the financial platforms. The proposal, she noted, has already been discussed at the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), underscoring the urgency of regulatory coordination.
“Sebi is uniquely positioned to drive this initiative, given its scale of investor participation, robust digital infrastructure and institutional credibility,” she said, adding that stakeholders must ensure customers are not required to undergo repetitive verification processes across financial products.
The finance minister also highlighted the need to deepen India’s bond markets by expanding access beyond top-rated issuers. She called for stronger credit enhancement mechanisms to enable fundamentally sound but lower-rated enterprises to raise capital. A parallel push for the development of municipal bonds was also flagged as a priority.
On the global front, Sitharaman urged Sebi to intensify engagement with international regulators and market participants. She stressed that increasing cross-border capital flows and evolving risks — such as financial fraud, artificial intelligence in markets, sustainable financial disclosures and settlement interoperability — require continuous dialogue.
“The more Sebi frameworks are understood abroad, the greater the confidence of global capital in Indian markets and the greater the weight Sebi carries in global rule-making,” she said.
Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey highlighted the rapid growth of India’s capital markets, pointing out that the country now has over 5,900 listed companies and more than 140 million unique investors.
Looking ahead, Pandey said Sebi will focus on simplifying regulations to improve ease of doing business, while investing in technology-driven supervision, strengthening governance frameworks and fostering innovation to support sustained economic growth.