The paper is a significant step towards making the “fit and proper person” criteria more balanced and fairer. However, its triumph depends on how SEBI exercises its discretion.

Through the order, SEBI clarified that entities in purely advisory or consultative roles are not required to register as a Merchant Banker under Section 12(1) of the SEBI Act. This clarification, grounded in regulatory acquiescence and established market practice, provides meaningful relief to advisors who have operated without assuming issue management responsibilities.

Market integrity regulation is invariably faced with a dilemma of how far precautionary provisions can be stretched until there exists a possibility of punitive action against a behavior not yet found to have occurred.

The article focuses on key aspects surrounding the impending listing of the National Stock Exchange and its implications for companies and investors in the Indian capital market.

The Circular eases barriers to entry and rationalised procedures by aligning capital markets in India with global best practices, and facilitated efficiency without compromising regulation. However, regulatory trust cannot exist in a vacuum. The lack of well-defined eligibility criteria, long compliance periods with the lack of well-established event monitoring, and the overdependence on intermediaries also create the issues of arbitrariness, supervisory dilution, and fragmen

The SMC signifies a progressive initiative to update India’s securities market by consolidating different acts into a single statute. If successfully adopted, the code will rewrite the securities market in India, redefining legislation, enforcement, and the investor experience.

To ensure that AI is implemented effectively, organizations must assess possible bias and inaccurate data prior to deploying the AI system.

The main thesis of this article is not as broad as that, which is that the increase of the powers of SEBI under the SMC has not been offset by a corresponding increase in the supply of institutional checks to those powers.

CSR introduced conscience into corporate law, but ESG must introduce consequences. India today stands between the comfort of disclosure and the necessity of enforcement. SEBI has constructed the reporting architecture, the Companies Act embeds fiduciary responsibility, and shareholder democracy is maturing into participatory oversight. However, without liability, ESG risks become CSR 2.0, a sophisticated but ultimately ineffective framework.

The Directions mark an important shift away from static authentication to stronger, risk-aware controls.

The SMC is a forward-looking move in the modernisation of the capital market regulation India. It goes beyond codifying the various disparate statutes in one instrument and instead attempts to effect a structural redefined securities laws.

SEBI’s re-ordering in 2026, caused by up-streaming and the altered locus of risk of settlement, was, in institutional terms, the only possible course.

If compliance can be achieved with reasonable confidentiality, side letters can change from being the source of hidden privileges to the instruments of orderly governance.

The SEBI's NISM mandate reflects an attitude which holds that the maturation of Indian private capital markets cannot be built on informal standards and, similarly, on the appointment being regarded as a mere business function.

Section 166(2) emerges not merely as a statutory directive but as a potential transformative mandate, compelling directors to transcend shareholder primacy and embed climate imperatives within the corporate conscience.

SEBI’s shift toward liquid net-worth requirements prioritizes immediate solvency over dynamic, risk-weighted metrics used in the US and EU. While this deleveraging enhances market stability, it risks institutional consolidation and reduced SME flexibility.

The Amendment functions as a structural foreclosure, rendering the bank-affiliated NBFC model economically obsolete. The regulatory signal is clear: diversification is viewed as arbitrage, and the era of the homogenized universal bank has returned.

This article examines the SAT order’s interpretation of the RPT framework with respect to materiality assessment, and delineates regulatory implications for industry stakeholders.

The current framework has critical shortcomings that demand targeted reforms to instill genuine accountability.

The Linde Judgement is a major step towards a more substance oriented and shareholder centric RPTs regime in India.

The recent amendments by SEBI in the LODR aligns with the effort to maintain the governance standards in response to changing realities of the market.

The 2025 amendments position Section 233 at the core of India’s intra-group restructuring landscape. However, the unchanged 90 % threshold which is anchored in a bygone ownership model, hinders the workability of the fast-track mergers.

Ultimately, India's dual standards for “control” stem from two distinct policy objectives: minority protection and market dominance.

SEBI's August 2025 consultation paper proposes key reforms to MPO and MPS norms for large-cap IPOs, aiming to enhance market capitalization and public shareholding. This article examines how these regulatory changes balance dilution concerns, boost investor protection, and address legal challenges to ensure market integrity and robust participation in India's equity markets.