Regulators' worries keep banks, insurers off comex: Sebi chief

MUMBAI: Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said that the regulators for banking and insurance sectors were not willing to allow their regulated entities into commodities derivatives segment due to some concerns.

Pandey also said that for Sebi to regulate products that allow physical delivery of commodities like gold, tweaking of GST rules is needed, for which the regulator has approached GST council through finance ministry.

The Sebi chief also said that the govt is expected to come out with a 'one nation, one KYC' framework under CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India) by July this year. Earlier, on April 25, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Sebi should take the lead in putting in place such a system that will make life easier for customers within the financial services sector in India.

The top markets regulator was speaking at IMC's capital markets conference in the city.

Last year, Sebi had said that it was talking with pension sector regulator PFRDA to allow pension funds in the commodities derivatives segment. On Monday, Sebi chief said that the respective regulators for banks and insurance-RBI and Irdai-were "not very favourably inclined to allow banks and insurance companies to invest in commodity derivatives" because of certain concerns and "they have some valid rationale for it."

Pandey stated that the regulator wants the GST council to find a solution to the issue in physical delivery in commodity derivatives market, including for gold. He said that Sebi had proposed an IGST mechanism instead of the state GST.

"For delivery, the warehouse could be located in various places due to which they may have to take registration from all the states. It is really cumbersome," he said.

Earlier during his inaugural speech, the Sebi chief said the regulator would soon issue an advisory to market intermediaries on emerging risks from AI-led vulnerabilities. He said that Sebi wants intermediaries to be prepared for any such vulnerabilities.


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