1 week ago
SEBI Chief Calls for Greater Focus on Longer-Term Derivatives
India’s market regulator says too much derivatives trading is focused on short-term index options.
Derivatives are financial contracts whose value comes from another asset.
The regulator wants more activity in longer-term contracts, such as futures and longer-dated stock options.
It is studying issues such as the margins traders must provide.
The regulator also knows that many small investors have lost money in derivatives.
Many young people began investing after the Covid pandemic.
Officials want to improve the market without making changes that unnecessarily disrupt it.
The regulator is also encouraging companies to use corporate bonds and is testing digital records for bond ownership and trading.
SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said India’s derivatives market is heavily concentrated in index options.
Pandey called for greater development of futures, stock futures and longer-dated stock options.
SEBI is examining margin requirements and other ways to expand longer-term derivatives without disrupting markets.
He acknowledged retail investor losses and said many young investors entered markets after the Covid pandemic.
SEBI is also working to improve corporate-bond liquidity and testing tokenised bonds on a permissioned shared ledger.
- Who
- Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey and SEBI officials.
- What
- Pandey called for greater focus on longer-term derivative contracts and discussed corporate-bond market development and tokenisation.
- Where
- Mumbai, India.
- When
- Wednesday, at the SBI Banking and Economics Conclave 2026.
- Why
- To make derivatives trading more balanced, address retail investor losses, broaden corporate financing and improve corporate-bond market infrastructure.
Key facts
- Regulator
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- SEBI chairman
- Tuhin Kanta Pandey
- Current market concentration
- Derivatives trading is heavily tilted toward options, particularly index options.
- Longer-term contracts
- SEBI is considering futures, stock futures and longer-dated stock options.
- Investor concern
- Pandey acknowledged losses among retail investors in derivatives.
- Bond tokenisation pilot
- The pilot records issuance, ownership and transfers on a permissioned shared ledger and enables atomic settlement.
- Next pilot phases
- The second phase will examine secondary-market trading, while the third will cover pledges, liens and other transactions.
Quotes
Tuhin Kanta Pandey
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India
“We would like to develop the market in a more positive sense than just doing something which will unnecessarily disrupt it.”
financialexpress.com
“Unfortunately, the market is quite tilted in favour of options trading and that too particularly around index options.”
financialexpress.com
Sources
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