Mumbai: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Thursday said the market regulator has approached the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to include insurance-related information in consolidated account statements, a move aimed at giving investors a more comprehensive view of their financial holdings.
Speaking on the sidelines of Sahamati’s Annual Conference, Pandey said the initiative is part of efforts to provide investors with a unified view of their financial assets and liabilities.
He noted that the account aggregator framework could play a key role in integrating data across various financial products and further strengthening the utility of consolidated account statements.
At present, investors can access details of their securities holdings, mutual fund investments, stock portfolios across brokers and National Pension System (NPS) accounts through consolidated statements.
Pandey said SEBI is also working on incorporating bank deposit information into the framework following the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to allow SEBI-regulated depositories continuous access to such data. The regulator is currently examining the technical aspects required for the integration.
According to the SEBI chief, expanding the scope of consolidated account statements would enable investors to view a broader range of financial assets in one place, helping them make more informed investment decisions and facilitating better financial planning based on their overall portfolios.
On the issue of merchant discount rate (MDR), Pandey said discussions between SEBI and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) were continuing after the recent deferment of the fee. When asked whether the regulator had made representations to NPCI on behalf of capital market participants, he said talks were still underway.
The SEBI chairman also emphasised the importance of investor awareness and financial literacy. He said the regulator has been leveraging digital platforms and multilingual communication channels to reach a wider audience across the country. As part of these efforts, SEBI has disseminated nearly 440 million investor awareness messages over the past nine days.
Separately, Pandey said SEBI is examining measures to strengthen the securities lending and borrowing mechanism (SLBM), which facilitates short selling in the capital markets. A working group constituted for the purpose has conducted meetings and is evaluating various proposals.
(IANS)
