Market regulator SEBI is examining position limits for non-agricultural contracts to improve liquidity and depth without weakening risk controls, its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Saturday (October 3, 2026).

Speaking about reforms in the commodity derivatives market, Mr. Pandey said the market design should allow contracts to gain scale. In some agricultural commodities, physical settlement from the outset can impede market development, and a phased approach could allow contracts to mature before physical settlement becomes mandatory.

He said SEBI has completed consultations on the matter and guidelines will follow.

The regulator is also working to reduce structural friction in commodity markets, including engaging with stakeholders on GST-related issues affecting participants who give or receive commodities through exchange platforms.

Mr. Pandey said technology should serve the specific needs of commodity markets, which include producers, commercial users, farmers, processors, and physical hedgers.

“Technology can improve access and efficiency, but its design must reflect their needs while preserving fair access and market integrity,” he said at an event organised by CPAI (Commodity & Capital Market Participants Association of India).

On investor awareness, Mr. Pandey said SEBI will strengthen efforts under Project Jagrook to spread awareness about commodity derivatives among farmers, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), MSMEs, hedgers and other market users.

“Access without understanding is not inclusion,” he said, stressing the need for participants to understand both the utility and risks associated with commodity derivatives.

SEBI is also working towards deeper and more liquid cash markets, with wider participation, stronger securities borrowing and lending, and efficient hedging and arbitrage expected to improve price discovery and strengthen the interaction between cash and derivatives markets.

Mr. Pandey said simpler regulation should not mean weaker compliance, and robust controls over client funds, margins, reporting and supervision remain fundamental.

“Trust and market integrity” must not be compromised, he added.

Last month, the SEBI board approved a proposal to allow foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to participate in physically settled, non-agricultural commodity derivative contracts, subject to safeguards.

The new Closing Auction Session (CAS) mechanism for determining closing prices is “here to stay”, even as the market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) remains open to stakeholder feedback and possible tweaks to address any issues and for improvement.

“CAS is here to stay for sure. We will see if there are certain constraints or certain issues that we can improve,” SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, while speaking, on the sidelines of the launch of cyber reporting platforms at the NISM campus at Navi Mumbai.

Further, he said several industry participants had welcomed the move, as it provides a single price at which trades can be executed, countering criticism over tracking errors. Under the earlier system, the closing price was derived using the volume-weighted average price (VWAP). However, several market participants are yet to upgrade their systems, which were built around legacy processes and the earlier VWAP-based mechanism.

“It is a major microstructure change. When there is something going on for years, people think that it will never come — the change will never come. And then therefore they do not give total energy into learning a new system. There are some initial teething problems whenever you come up with something major — because people tend to believe that it will be postponed,” Pandey said, answering to queries on the preparedness of the industry.

“It really depends on our success in terms of attracting FPIs (foreign portfolio investors), allowing passive investing, which is already 30% of the market and we cannot just put out this thing on this issue just because some people want to do options trading in the way they want to do options trading,” he added.

The regulator would soon issue a consultation paper on the securities lending and borrowing mechanism as part of its efforts to strengthen and stabilise the CAS framework, according to him.

On queries whether there were any instances of manipulation, Pandey said SEBI is analysing data. “We are looking at all the suggestions which have come from social media, our teams have gone through them. They are discussing with the participants. We need to meet our objectives. Many things will improve with participation. Indicative prices are very important,” he added.

LIC Mutual Fund is planning to launch its first Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) by October, targeting an initial mobilisation of ₹500 crore from high-net-worth investors (HNIs).

“We have applied to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Once approval comes, then we will be able to launch the fund,” LIC Mutual Fund MD & CEO Ravi Kumar Jha told reporters in Chennai on Monday.

SIF is an investment product regulated by SEBI that sits between traditional mutual funds and portfolio management services (PMS), offering fund managers greater flexibility to implement investment strategies while operating under a defined regulatory framework.

Asked about the timeline, Jha said, “October I can say,” even as he added that the launch would ultimately depend on when the market regulator grants approval and the prevailing market conditions.

Confirming the initial target of ₹500 crores; he said the SIF category is designed for affluent investors, allowing wealthy customers to invest in mutual fund schemes with a minimum ticket size of ₹10 lakh.

Mr. Jha said SIF offers a lower entry threshold than PMS, which require a minimum investment of ₹50 lakh; while offering mutual fund taxation benefits. The company has already begun operational preparations for the launch, with employees undergoing the required certification process.

The proposed launch comes as LIC Mutual Fund crossed the ₹50,000-crore assets under management (AUM) milestone.

The fund house’s AUM stood at ₹50,875 crore as of July 31, 2026, compared with ₹16,526 crore in April 2023, representing a 208% growth over the past three years, he said, targeting ₹1 lakh crore AUM by March 31, 2027 despite market volatility.

To achieve that goal, he said LIC Mutual Fund would focus on three key segments: retail investors through systematic investment plans (SIPs), bank distribution partnerships and corporate and institutional clients.

Kumar also said the company is not planning to launch any new equity-oriented funds immediately.

“This year we are not very keen to issue any NFO because we are seeing that the equity market is not so positive. It is not giving a very positive signal right now,” he said, adding that fresh launches could be considered in the second half of the financial year depending on market conditions.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not penalise 95.8% of influencers even though many of their activities showed warning signs or raised concerns, according to CFA Institute’s survey.

In a survey of 48 influencers and their behaviours in 2025, released in 2026, the CFA found SEBI’s action or involvement was found only in 6.25% of the fininfluencers.

Identifying several key issues surrounding how finfluencers offer investment advice and disclose their collaborations; it said some finfluencers do not explicitly mention paid collaborations. It is difficult for viewers to find out whether content has been paid for and by whom.

Some do not explicitly identify the brands involved in paid partnerships; instead, they refer to products or services in generic terms, which can obscure the commercial nature of the content, said the authors in the report titled “Clicks and Credibility 2.0: From Influence to Accountability, Disclosures, and Policy Impact.”

Finding that conflicts of interest are common; the survey said finfluencers might have their own business in related areas, such as wealth advisory, taxation, or providing legal help for start-ups and businesses. Such business activities may get a boost from the finfluencer activity by creating an impression of expertise. Potential and current clients/customers for those related businesses may be influenced as a result.

The sample showed that 62.5% disclosed their conflicts of interest, such as sponsored content or affiliate marketing. The remaining 37.5% did not. However, this does not necessarily indicate an undisclosed conflict, as some may not have had any commercial arrangements to disclose during the period reviewed.

Some finfluencers also organize offline sessions, often with followers, in which they suggest stocks and give advice, it said, adding some offer stock suggestions indirectly. “This observation has been based on anecdotal evidence around finfluencer activity and not specifically related to the sample set in this study,” it said.

Although the share of SEBI registered finfluencers increased modestly, it remains firmly in the minority, it said. Moreover, the proportion of finfluencers providing stock recommendations remains unchanged at approximately one-third, indicating that the underlying gap between regulated activity and current practice persists, according to the survey.

Highlighting the “wide gap” between how many finfluencers are SEBI-registered and how many offer explicit stock recommendations; it said in the total sample, only three 6.3% are SEBI-registered; the remaining 45 (93.7%) are not registered,

Of the 16 finfluencers in the sample whose content the survey identifies as explicit stock recommendations, only two of these are SEBI-registered; implying that 14 of those finfluencers are making explicit investment recommendations that may warrant further examination from the regulator.

Regulations had worked well on some grounds.  More than 72% of the surveyed influencers mentioned investment norms and nearly 67% of them were not giving recommendations. 

Finding that the investing landscape is undergoing a structural shift, marked by the rapid rise of finfluencers who are increasingly shaping how retail investors perceive and evaluate investment decisions; it recommended investors to verify credentials, understand the education versus advice distinction, use regulated investment platform and be cautious of terminology.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has cautioned regulated entities and listed firms against “Boss Scam”, wherein fraudsters impersonate as chief executives or other senior officials to trick finance teams into transferring funds

“The communication through email/ WhatsApp/Microsoft Teams/other social media platforms with their subordinates or counterparts, directs them to carry out instructions given to them resulting in transfer of funds to fraudsters,” SEBI said in a statement.

Outlining two methods, SEBI said fraudsters impersonate senior executives and send messages or make calls directing subordinates to urgently transfer money to specified bank accounts. In some cases, fraudsters use artificial intelligence tools such as voice cloning and deepfake video calls to make the impersonation appear genuine.

Another method, according to SEBI, was the fraudsters send a compressed ZIP file containing malicious software. Once the file is opened on a Windows device, the malware hijacks active WhatsApp Web sessions, allowing fraudsters to gain access to the victim’s account and send payment instructions to finance or accounts personnel.

“Alternatively, if the fraudster achieves complete device takeover, they secretly alter the contact list on the device, and saves the fraudster’s phone number under the name of the CEO/MD and use that secondary number to instruct finance officer into transferring funds,” SEBI said. 

The market regulator alerted corporate professionals to “remain cautious and cross-check requests received through WhatsApp/ email/ social media platforms, by calling their seniors.”

Advising people “not to transfer funds solely on the basis of instructions received on any social media platforms.”, SEBI asked the professionals to close their Whatsapp sessions on their computers after use and not install files without verifying the identity of the sender.

The advisory follows an alert from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which has flagged a rise in CEO/MD impersonation fraud targeting organisations through various social media platforms.

India’s markets regulator SEBI aims to make it easier for investors to short stocks by nearly doubling the number of shares eligible for lending and borrowing and by cutting collateral requirements, two people with direct knowledge of the plans said.

The changes are aimed at boosting the cash equities market and drawing investors away from the country’s far larger derivatives market, which has seen explosive growth but carries far larger risks for retail investors in particular.

Stock scam scandals led India to develop strict requirements for its cash equities market, with rules tightened in the early 2000s and then again in the period 2017 to 2020.

That has meant that while the National Stock Exchange, which accounts for about 95% of India’s cash equities market, has some 2,600 companies listed, only 176 are currently eligible for borrowing and lending.

By nearly doubling that number, Indian authorities hope to include the majority of liquid shares, the people said.

The three main criteria determining eligibility include liquidity, trading volume and the stock’s ability to support exposure to derivatives trading.

For example, a stock must have an average monthly trading turnover of at least ₹1 billion ($10.5 million) over the previous six months and be large enough to support derivatives exposure of at least ₹1 billion across the market. There are also rules relating to how much of a stock should be held by public shareholders.

“Deliberations are on relaxing the two thresholds,” said one of the people, without specifying which thresholds.

The changes are aimed at drawing investors away from the far larger derivatives market

 A city-based complaint has urged the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to investigate alleged fund diversion, investor cheating and money laundering involving more than ₹275 crore in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SEA) project at Khot Dongri in Malad East, Mumbai.

The complaint filed by one Nikesh Raghani relates to a redevelopment project under the SRA scheme at Rani Sati Marg, spread over about 5,600 sq. metres.