Sebi boosts tech-driven enforcement to curb investors scam & safeguard retail investors
Mumbai: Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said the regulator is stepping up surveillance and technology-driven enforcement to curb rising pre-investment scams targeting retail investors.
Marking one year in office on March 1, Pandey said many new and prospective investors are being lured through fake trading apps, WhatsApp groups and promises of assured high returns. In several cases, funds are diverted to fraudsters’ personal accounts even before investors approach Sebi-registered intermediaries.
Describing such incidents as “quite many”, he said Sebi is intensifying investor awareness drives and promoting tools like “SEBI Check” to help verify legitimate entities and payment handles. Multimedia and multilingual campaigns are being rolled out to widen outreach. He also urged investors to adopt disciplined, long-term strategies such as SIPs and avoid speculative trading in complex derivatives without adequate understanding, cautioning against unregistered “finfluencers” promising unrealistic gains.
On the technology front, Pandey highlighted Sebi’s growing use of AI and data analytics to track market misconduct, misleading content and unregistered advisory activities in real time. India currently has over 140 million unique investors.
Addressing governance issues, he said recommendations of the high-level committee on conflict of interest—set up in March 2025—were discussed by the board and will undergo further deliberation.
On recent glitches at Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Pandey said Sebi monitored developments closely.
Operations were shifted to disaster recovery sites where required, and root cause analyses will be reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee before remedial steps are implemented.
He added that Sebi is also reviewing aspects of Portfolio Management Services regulations, including easing portability for investors shifting between portfolio
managers.
