Photo of Rutu Gandhi

Partner in the Financial Services and Securities Regulatory Practice at the Mumbai Office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Rutu has more than 11 years of experience in the financial services and securities law space. Her areas of expertise include advising on financial services regulation; regulatory aspects arising from capital markets transactions, regulatory inquiries, representations and internal investigations; ongoing compliances and enforcement. She also has extensive experience in advising domestic and global financial institutions, listed companies and securities market intermediaries on a host of other regulatory and securities law matters such as licensing and registration; governance; market conduct norms, insider trading and market manipulation; collaborations; cross border marketing; internal controls and risk assessment. She can be reached at rutu.gandhi@cyrilshroff.com

Revamping the Investment Advisers and Research Analysts Frameworks – the SEBI Way

Introduction

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Ministry of Finance, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) constituted several groups to recommend simplification of various regulations specified by it and invited suggestions from market participants[1]. Post deliberations on the suggestions received, the Working Group for review of compliance requirements for Investment Advisers (“IAs”) and Research Analysts (“RAs”) submitted its recommendations to SEBI’s Intermediaries Advisory Committee (“IAC”). SEBI has now released a consultation paper dated August 6, 2024, on ‘Review of Regulatory Framework for Investment Advisers and Research Analysts’ (“Consultation Paper”)[2] incorporating the recommendations proposed by IAC.Continue Reading Revamping the Investment Advisers and Research Analysts Frameworks – the SEBI Way

Ever since the introduction of framework for prevention of insider trading (“PIT”), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”), as the primary regulator of securities markets has consistently been sharpening its tools to effectively discharge its duty of ensuring market integrity, curbing malpractices and safeguarding interests of investors.Continue Reading Decoding SEBI’s Tech Arsenal for Insider Trading: Structured Digital Database (Part I)

SEBI

Background

In order to provide for an alternative and efficient dispute resolution mechanism for securities law violations, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) introduced the consent mechanism through a circular in 2007[1] (which was partially modified in 2012)[2]. This was subsequently codified through the SEBI (Settlement of Administrative and Civil Proceedings) Regulations, 2014 (“2014 Regulations”), pursuant to the notification of the Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014, which expressly empowered SEBI to settle matters with a view to removing any ambiguity over the validity of the settlement process. This regime specifically excluded certain serious violations (e.g. insider trading, fraud) from the purview of the settlement mechanism. Explicit provisions which enabled initiation of settlement proceedings prior to the issuance of show cause notice were also introduced, to reduce administrative burden and cost on SEBI.Continue Reading Amendments to SEBI Settlement Regime – A Snapshot