Address by Chairman SEBI – Global Fintech Fest 2025

Address by Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairman, SEBI Global Fintech Fest 2025 “Resilient and Inclusive Capital Markets in a tech-driven World’” October 08, 2025 Thank You Mr. Jean Paul Servais, IOSCO Board Chair for the video message! Dr. Marlene Amstad, Chairperson, FINMA, Switzerland, Mr. Tuang Lee Lim, Asst. Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Mr. Uday Kotak, Founder and Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all! It is a pleasure to be present here today amongst this august gathering of distinguished leaders, innovators, and thinkers who are shaping the financial ecosystem of tomorrow. At the outset, I must thank the organisers for organising Global Fintech Fest 2025 - which provides a valuable platform to innovators, policymakers, and industry leaders to exchange ideas, showcase emerging technologies, and share best practices across sectors and jurisdictions. Such dialogues not only encourage innovations but also help us learn from diverse experiences around the world. By fostering collaboration between technology and regulation, forums like this help build a financial ecosystem that is more efficient, transparent, and inclusive — ultimately benefiting markets, institutions, and investors alike. Over the period of time the Indian capital market has undergone a profound transformation. What was once a system defined by paper certificates and long settlement cycles is now one of the most technologically advanced market in the world - fully dematerialised, seamlessly digital, and remarkably transparent. Technology-led Transformations in Capital Market Today, the Indian securities market is being shaped by the powerful convergence of technology, reforms and investor trust – creating an ecosystem that is vibrant, resilient and inclusive. This transformation has been driven by both innovation and intent — innovation by market participants and intent by the regulator to enable and facilitate the responsible shifts. Today, whether it is the way investors open an account, the speed at which trades are settled, or the safeguards for mitigating risks are built - technology is at the core of every step. 1Over the last five years, we have seen a multi-fold rise in investor participation, which has now grown to 134 million. This expansion in investor base has been facilitated by tech driven simplified on-boarding process, increased access and wider awareness. The adoption of electronic e-KYC process, paperless onboarding, and mobile- first platforms has made investing simpler and more inclusive. Retail investors, especially from smaller towns, are now able to access products and platforms that were once confined to metropolitan India. SEBI, in collaboration with Market Infrastructure Institutions, industry bodies, intermediaries and participants, has been facilitating an ecosystem that harness technology to improve efficiency, build resilience and investor trust. Let me highlight a few key measures that illustrate how technology led reforms have taken shape across three broad dimensions — investor protection, market efficiency, and regulatory oversight. Empowering and Protecting Investors  As you are aware, from Oct 01, 2025, we have rolled out two initiatives - ‘Validated UPI handles and ‘SEBI Check’ - to protect investors from payment linked frauds.  To safeguard investors’ interests in purchase and sale of securities, securities are credited directly into the client’s demat account by the clearing corporations (CCs), while client funds are upstreamed to CCs.  In case of a broker’s outage, to allow investors to square off their open positions directly with the exchange, we have introduced the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform - providing a safety net against operational disruptions.  The Unified Investor App, launched jointly by the two depositories, gives investors a consolidated view of their holdings, transaction history, e- voting options, and even proxy advisory recommendations — all in one place. It symbolises how technology can simplify investor experience while enhancing transparency.  We have enabled investors to voluntarily freeze their trading accounts - much like blocking an ATM card — if they detect suspicious activity.  We have launched a new version of SEBI Complaint Redress System (SCORES) to strengthen the investor complaint redress mechanism. 2 Unidentified unclaimed assets in the securities market, digilocker has been harnessed to allow investors to fetch and store mutual fund and demat holding statements. Enhancing Market Efficiency  On the efficiency front, one of the landmark reforms has been the move to a T+1 settlement cycle, making India one of the first major markets globally to achieve it. This has improved liquidity, reduced counterparty risk, and given investors faster access to funds.  In a first of its kind redundancy model, we have developed a two-way portability module across clearing corporations (CC) in our securities market.  The Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) mechanism, first introduced for IPOs, now extends to secondary markets through a UPI- blocked framework — ensuring smoother, safer, and more convenient transactions. Strengthening Oversight through Technology Technology has also become the regulator’s most potent ally.  Leveraging technology in our supervisory process, we conduct offsite inspections, supervise market infrastructure institutions and do continuous monitoring of intermediaries.  To enable real-time oversight and to relieve the reporting burdens on businesses, we have introduced system-driven disclosures.  SEBI’s Data Analytics and Digital Forensics Laboratory uses advance analytics, AI/ML models to detect complex market manipulation patterns and network-based frauds.  Our in-house social media monitoring systems are actively identifying and acting against unregistered financial influencers and misleading content. These initiatives reflect SEBI’s openness towards adoption of technology both within the organisation and in the broader capital market ecosystem. Navigating the Risks of Technology Yet, we must acknowledge that every leap in technology brings its own set of risks. 3Cybersecurity threats have the potential to create systemic disruptions. A single data breach or operational glitch can have cascading effects across interconnected systems. As market participants increasingly rely on third-party service providers and cloud-based platforms, new vectors of risk emerge — sometimes beyond traditional regulatory perimeters. To counter these challenges, we have been taking various steps which include regulatory frameworks, continuous monitoring, capacity building, SOP for classification and handling of cybersecurity Incidents. Under the comprehensive cybersecurity and cyber resilience framework for SEBI regulated entities, we have prescribed measures to ensure that the regulated entities remain equipped with adequate cyber resiliency measures and can withstand, respond to, and recover from cyber threats effectively. But resilience is not a one-time achievement; it is a continuous process - of learning, adapting, and anticipating. The Road Ahead As we look to the future, we envision a securities market that is not only efficient and resilient but also deeply inclusive - powered by innovation and technology for the benefit of all participants. Under SEBI’s Innovation Sandbox, fintechs are testing the applications of blockchain technology in securities market. Further, to address post quantum cryptographic issues, SEBI has prepared an action plan as well as capacity building initiatives on quantum readiness of its regulated ecosystem. But the resilience cannot be built by the regulator alone. It is a shared responsibility - among MIIs, intermediaries, fintech innovators, and indeed, all of us in this ecosystem. As we enter the next phase of this transformative journey, the collaboration between fintech innovations and regulatory foresight will determine not just how fast we grow, but how safely we grow. India’s capital markets today are among the most efficient and technology driven in the world. But our true strength lies in resilience of the market ecosystem and the inclusion of all stakeholders. As we stand at this confluence of technology and finance, the opportunity before us is immense. Let us continue to harness technology to build — thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with an unwavering focus on trust — a capital market that truly embodies the spirit of a resilient and inclusive India. Thank you. 4