No country better than India in using tech to protect clients' securities: SEBI chief
Bengaluru (PTI): There is no country in the world in terms of "margin protection" better than India where technology is extensively used to protect clients' securities, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said on Friday.
The SEBI chief said that foreign investors often tell her that she was fortunate to have in the country a culture of data and technology, which is making the role of the capital market regulator effective.
"There is huge technology change in the entire market. It has never been done anywhere in the world ever...and we did it in India. So, today in terms of margin protection the protection of client's securities there is nobody better in the world than India," Buch said in her lecture on 'Data and Technology in the Capital Market'.
The event was organised by the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore to mark its 49th Foundation Day celebrations on Friday.
Explaining how data is used for surveillance to check malpractices during trading, the SEBI chairperson said the study of algorithm and alerts make it easy to study the trading pattern of people and understand that this is an 'insider trading'.
SEBI has also embedded a QR code which, Buch said, was quite radical. When it is scanned, one can see a video clip, which showed the 'Delta' positions of the particular individual whose trading pattern is reflected.
"You look at that film, and you say, 'this is insider trading. This cannot be anything else'. So, we use data in our surveillance," the SEBI chief explained.
The regulatory body is also using technology to check 'front running' in the mutual fund market.
She, however, said SEBI too had some setbacks because the regulation has not kept pace with technology but it is trying to fix the problem in the next few months.
The SEBI chief said the board is now using 'Suptech' or Supervisory Technology as well to inspect and make sure that everybody's following the rules.
Citing an example from the mutual fund industry, she said SEBI started collecting data from all the 44 mutual fund houses operating in the country.
As the data started coming in, SEBI told the industry that they are going to develop 80 algorithms and explained to them the logic and the interpretation of SEBI laws in the light of the algorithm emanating from the data.
According to Buch, many of her colleagues were quite upset as they were against revealing the algorithm and questioned the objective behind it. Buch, however, said she gave an explanation that satisfied them.
"The objective of the regulator is not to catch people doing bad things but to prevent them doing bad things. So, we declared that we are now going to make these 80 algos," she explained.
Today, SEBI conducts inspections every quarter, which otherwise could be done on a daily basis, because the board wanted to give industry time to find their own mistakes and fix them instead of showing up every day, Buch said.
"Now, this is only the beginning because this is the easy stuff. So, what's the tough stuff? The tough stuff is where you have to try and find violations of the spirit of the law, and not the letter of the law," the SEBI chief said.
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Canadian report finds 'no definitive link' between Nijjar killing and India
Ottawa, Jan 29 (PTI): A Canada commission report has said that "no definitive link" with a "foreign state" in the killing of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was "proven", smashing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that accused the involvement of Indian agents in the killing.
In September 2023, Trudeau said Canada had credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023.
The report titled "Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions' was released on Tuesday.
In the report commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue said "Disinformation is used as a retaliatory tactic to punish decisions that run contrary to a state's interests."
The report has suggested India spread disinformation on the killing of Nijjar.
"This may have been the case with a disinformation campaign that followed the Prime Minister's announcement regarding suspected Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (though again no definitive link to a foreign state could be proven)," the report said.
Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, British Columbia, in June 2023.
The 123-page report also talked of expelling six Indian diplomats.
"In October 2024, Canada expelled six Indian diplomats and consular officials in reaction to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the Government of India," it said.
However, India expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced the withdrawal of its high commissioner.
The relations between India and Canada came under severe strain following Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations in September last year of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.
New Delhi had rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".
India has repeatedly criticised Trudeau's government for being soft on supporters of the Khalistan movement who live in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.
On Tuesday, India strongly rejected "insinuations" made against it in the report by a Canadian commission that investigated allegations that certain foreign governments were meddling in Canada's elections.
In a strong reaction, the MEA in New Delhi said it rejects the report's "insinuations" on India.
It is in fact Canada which has been "consistently interfering" in India's internal affairs, it said.
