Overview
- SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said Tuesday that the regulator will review whether listed debt issuers should face the same listing and disclosure rigour as equity companies and will run a distributed ledger technology pilot for tokenised corporate bonds within six to nine months.
- The tokenisation pilot is designed to test near-instant settlement, automated servicing, fractional trading and better traceability as ways to boost liquidity and lower costs in a market dominated by banks and high‑rated issuers.
- SEBI made clear the pilot and any wider rollout will wait for final clearance from the Reserve Bank of India and that exchanges and depositories will be brought together to test operational and technological models.
- The regulator is also exploring a separate regulatory category for debt brokers, market‑making frameworks, bond ETFs, derivatives on bond indices and municipal-debt reforms to broaden issuers, lower entry barriers and raise retail participation.
- SEBI stressed a cautious, investor‑protection first approach, noting low household awareness of corporate bonds and warning that credit, liquidity and operational risks must be addressed alongside any tech-driven reforms.