Asked whether the much-delayed IPO will happen before Diwali, the chief of the capital markets regulator declined to share any timeline.
“There is no obstacle that will remain in case of NSE IPO,” he said, speaking at the FE CFO Awards here.
Pandey reiterated that the Sebi is fine with the ownership of clearing corporation by the stock bourses, and added that the ownership is “not an obstacle” in the run up to the IPO.
Pandey explained that every country has its own models when it comes to ownership of clearing corporations, pointing out that brokers own it in the US, while they sit as separate entities in India.
The career bureaucrat-turned-regulator, who assumed office in March, said NSE is in the process of settling some legal processes, which will entail paying some amounts and withdrawal of some cases at present. He, however, did not elaborate on the exact nature of the settlements and the payments which need to be done. Sebi is not pushing the ‘T+0′ settlement period right now, given the complexities involved in its especially with regard to the foreign investors’ play, he said, suggesting that it will continue to be a optional facility.
We must aim to take the total number of domestic investors to 400 million in the next five years from the present 130 million unique investors in the capital market.
Citing his discussions with foreign investors both in India and abroad, Pandey said tax issues are not a deterrent for them but it is other factors which influence the bets.
“Overall, our markets are stable, our domestic investors, domestic flows are good, capable of handling the volatility, our volatility, which was also increased post tariff like rest of the world, but it was not as high as in some other countries, those exchanges and certainly it is well within our manageable limit,” he said.
Earlier, Pandey also spoke about the need to regulate less in order to spur economic growth.
He said chief financial officers play a critical role in ensuring the financial integrity and accountability of listed companies and added that timely, accurate and reliable financial information is owed to them.
“The market looks to you for credibility. Investors depend on your disclosures. Regulatory bodies rely on your adherence,” he said.
The Sebi chief said nobody can guarantee that egregious behaviour will not be there, and spoke about the recent experience with the Gensol case in this context, asserting that the findings in the matter should not make one veer away from the agenda of ease of regulations.
