SEBI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the statutory regulator of India's securities markets, established under the SEBI Act 1992. Headquartered in Mumbai; chaired by a Chairperson appointed by the Central Government.

Core regulatory remit:

• Listed companies — disclosures, governance, related-party transactions, mergers, takeovers (under SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015 and SAST Regulations 2011).
• Stock exchanges, depositories, clearing corporations — market infrastructure institutions.
• Intermediaries — stock brokers, depository participants, portfolio managers (SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations 2020), investment advisers, research analysts, merchant bankers, debenture trustees, custodians.
• Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) — SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations 2012. See AIF Category I/II/III.
• Mutual Funds — SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996.
• Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) — SEBI (FPI) Regulations 2019.
• Real Estate / Infrastructure Investment Trusts (REITs / InvITs).
• Insider Trading — SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations 2015 (PIT).
• Issue of securities — ICDR Regulations 2018 for public issues and rights issues.
• Substantial acquisitions — SAST Regulations 2011 — 25% / 26% threshold open offer trigger.

Key powers (Section 11 of SEBI Act):

• Investigation, search, seizure
• Adjudication and imposition of monetary penalties
• Suspension / cancellation of registrations
• Direction to cease and desist; debarment from markets
• Prosecution

Relevance to Indian startups (even pre-IPO):

• AIF compliance — every Indian VC / PE / debt fund and its portfolio reporting is governed by SEBI's AIF regime.
• Insider trading — even pre-IPO Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) governance flows from PIT regulations once the company is en route to listing.
• DRHP / IPO — SEBI clears the prospectus and post-listing supervises ongoing compliance.
• Pre-IPO advisors and merchant bankers — must be SEBI-registered.

Recent SEBI focus areas relevant to capital markets:

• Tightening AIF regulations — PPM standardisation, carry unitisation, related-party investment restrictions, investor reporting standards.
• ESG / BRSR — see ESG Reporting.
• VDA / crypto — SEBI has not yet taken primary jurisdiction; deferred to other regulators.
• Online bond platforms, social stock exchange, T+1 settlement.

Kapitalyze's Fund OS is built natively against SEBI AIF reporting templates.