Sebi forms panel on financial technologies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India or Sebi on Wednesday formed a 10-member committee on financial and regulatory technologies, headed by Manipal Global Education chairman T.V. Mohandas Pai.

The panel will examine ongoing and medium-term trends related to FinTech in the securities market worldwide and advise the markets regulator on opportunities and challenges from new solutions and its impact on the country’s securities market, Sebi said in a note.

The committee includes Prakash Baliarsingh, chief general manager of RBI; A.P. Hota, managing director and CEO of National Payments Corp. of India; Diana Layfield, vice president, product management of Google, London; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm; and Anup Bagchi, ex-chief of ICICI Securities? (what is he now?) among others.

Sebi said the panel will recommend to the regulator the utilization of FinTech solutions for further widening and deepening of the Indian securities market. For this, the committee has to advise Sebi on better usage of existing financing platforms, both traditional and alternative (e.g. peer to peer lending and equity crowd-funding).

The panel will also advise Sebi on how to enhance market access and improve mobilization of household savings through new delivery channels of financial products, Robo Finance, investment advisory and portfolio management services.