SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India): notes for bank exams

At a glance

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates India's securities markets: stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, listed companies, foreign portfolio investors and more. Its job, under the SEBI Act, 1992, is to protect investors, develop the market and regulate it. It replaced the Controller of Capital Issues as the market's main authority.

Key facts

Set up: 12 April 1988, as a non-statutory body
Statutory status: SEBI Act, 1992 (powers from 30 January 1992)
Headquarters: Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai
Regional offices: New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad
Chairman: Tuhin Kanta Pandey (since 1 March 2025)
Board: a chairman, two officials of the Union ministries dealing with finance and company law, one RBI Deputy Governor, and five other members (at least three of them whole-time)
Whole-time members (2026): Amarjeet Singh, Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, Sandip Pradhan, K V Ramana Murty
Appeals against SEBI orders: Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), then the Supreme Court
Predecessor authority: Controller of Capital Issues, under the Capital Issues (Control) Act, 1947 (repealed in 1992)

How it works

Three roles. SEBI is at once quasi-legislative (it makes regulations), quasi-executive (it inspects, investigates and enforces) and quasi-judicial (it passes orders and imposes penalties).

Main regulations to know.

Regulation	Covers
ICDR Regulations, 2018	IPOs, rights issues, QIPs and other public issues
LODR Regulations, 2015	Continuous disclosure by listed companies
FPI Regulations, 2019	Registration of foreign portfolio investors
AIF Regulations, 2012	Private equity, venture capital and hedge-fund-type funds
PIT Regulations, 2015	Prohibition of insider trading
SAST Regulations, 2011	Substantial acquisition of shares and takeovers (open offers)
Mutual Funds Regulations, 1996	Mutual funds

Market structure it oversees. Stock exchanges (BSE, NSE, MSE), clearing corporations, depositories (NSDL and CDSL), brokers, investment advisers, credit rating agencies, REITs and InvITs. Commodity derivatives came under SEBI after the Forward Markets Commission merged into it in 2015.

Short selling. Selling shares one does not own is allowed only if backed by borrowing through securities lending and borrowing (SLB); naked short selling is banned. The short-selling framework dates from 2007 and SLB from 2008.

Timeline

1988: SEBI set up by a government resolution
1992: SEBI Act gives statutory powers
1996: Depositories Act; NSDL begins operations
2015: Forward Markets Commission merged into SEBI
2025: Tuhin Kanta Pandey becomes chairman

Recent developments

24 Oct 2026: Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said SEBI is reviewing its short-selling and SLB frameworks and building a market-making framework for corporate bonds (about ₹61 lakh crore outstanding).
15 Oct 2026: SEBI replaced the 3:15–3:35 pm closing auction session with a 10-minute session from 3:30 to 3:40 pm (orders from 3:31 to 3:36 pm). Expiring stock and index derivatives will settle on the volume-weighted average price of the last 30 minutes of trading. Most changes apply from 7 December 2026.

Exam traps

SEBI was set up in 1988 but became statutory in 1992. Questions often ask for one or the other.
SEBI's HQ is Mumbai; PFRDA's is New Delhi; IRDAI's is Hyderabad.
Appeals go to SAT, not to the High Court or NCLAT.
An FPI holds less than 10% of a listed company; 10% or more counts as FDI.
The RBI, not SEBI, regulates the government securities and forex markets.

Quick check

Q: Under which Act did SEBI get statutory powers? A: The SEBI Act, 1992.
Q: Who is SEBI's chairman? A: Tuhin Kanta Pandey.
Q: Which SEBI regulations govern IPOs? A: The ICDR Regulations, 2018.

Sources

In the news

Every time this topic has appeared in our current affairs, newest first:

25 October 2026SEBI reviews short-selling and securities lending rules, plans bond market-making framework
Week of 15–21 October 2026SEBI moves the closing auction session to 3:30–3:40 pm