India market regulator plans tougher conflict-of-interest rules for officials

MUMBAI: India’s market regulator on Monday approved tougher conflict-of-interest rules for its officials, asking that senior officials liquidate or freeze any personal equity investments when joining and refrain from trading for the duration of their employment.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had set up a panel to review investment rules applicable to its top officials after its previous chief, Madhabi Puri Buch, faced conflict of interest charges from the now-shuttered Hindenburg Research linking her to the Adani group, which was being investigated. Buch and the Adani group had denied the charges.

The panel recommended sweeping changes in November 2025, with the SEBI board approving a large number of the recommendations. The changes will come into effect once notified by the federal government.

According to the revised rules, the top four levels of SEBI officials, including the chairperson, must disclose details of their immovable properties.

This is in line with federal government norms that require officials to declare their immovable assets to their respective departments at the time of joining, and on the acquisition or sale of such a property.

The SEBI board has also asked that officials recuse themselves from matters in which they may have material financial interests or other conflicts, and said that a digital recusal process will be put in place.

Privacy concerns raised by employees had been taken into account when revising the rules, the board said.

Easier trade settlement rules

Separately, SEBI also eased transaction settlement rules for large foreign investors, who can now settle trades on a net basis instead of the current requirement to settle each transaction separately, lowering funding requirements and overall trading costs.