Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to take the lead in simplifying and digitizing know your customer (KYC) processes, calling for a single, unified KYC for investors.
Speaking at Sebi’s 38th foundation day event on Saturday, Sitharaman said the regulator should help drive common KYC norms across sectors, a long-pending reform discussed at meetings of the Financial Stability and Development Council.
“Each regulator is keen to do it. I would suggest that Sebi should help drive the prescription of the common KYC norms and the simplification and digitisation of KYC processes across the Indian securities market,” Sitharaman said.
“We need a seamless, secure and affordable KYC experience across the financial sector,” she said, adding that Sebi’s scale, digital infrastructure and institutional credibility position it well to anchor this effort.
The push for KYC simplification comes amid rising retail participation in capital markets, where onboarding friction and duplication across financial services remain persistent concerns.
Tough enforcement
She also called for stronger enforcement and surveillance, underlining that credibility of markets hinges on consistent action against wrongdoing.
“Market participants must know not only that misconduct will be investigated but that it will be pursued firmly, consistently and without hesitation,” she said, adding that Sebi must remain uncompromising in this domain.
The Union minister also flagged concerns around the misuse of retail investor trust, cautioning against its monetization for personal gain. She called for enabling frameworks for responsible financial education, while warning that regulators should not tolerate exploitative practices targeting uninformed investors.
“We need enabling frameworks for responsible financial education. But we should not tolerate the monetization of uninformed retail investor trust for personal enrichment,” Sitharaman said.
Global coordination
On the global front, Sitharaman urged Sebi to institutionalize more frequent and substantive consultations with international regulators and market participants. These engagements, she said, should focus on emerging risks such as cross-border fraud, the use of artificial intelligence in markets, sustainable finance disclosures and settlement interoperability.
“I urge Sebi to invest very substantially in public awareness through campaigns on every major platform in regional languages and through rapid response takedown mechanisms for fraudulent content impersonating public officials,” she said.
