The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is preparing a framework to curb misuse of brokers’ trading terminals, Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said Saturday, as the regulator also weighs compliance duties linked to firms’ scale and technology use.
Pandey spoke at an Association of NSE Members of India (ANMI) event on Saturday, Oct. 24, and urged market participants to elevate cybersecurity in business planning. His address gave no timetable and did not define the kinds of terminal misuse the framework would address.
The June 2025 Master Circular for Stock Brokers already requires firms to keep records that can verify a client placed an order before a trade is carried out. Brokers must also complete a comprehensive cyber audit at least once each financial year and submit the report with a management declaration of compliance. The circular said unauthorized trades accounted for a considerable share of investor complaints despite earlier measures. It also calls for a cyber policy approved by a broker’s board, partners or proprietor.
The order rule concerns evidence of client authorization before a transaction; the cyber audit is a separate annual obligation. Both are existing broker duties under the circular, while the terminal framework remains under development. Pandey did not explain how the proposed framework would fit with those requirements.
He also said SEBI is weighing a tiered approach to broker compliance, with firm size, client exposure and technology use among the factors. The address did not specify compliance levels or a start date.
The speech also covered SEBI’s wider technology agenda. SEBI is exploring an AI sandbox and finalizing responsible-AI guidance with tiered safeguards, including accountability, data controls, emergency shutdown mechanisms and human oversight, Pandey said. SEBI also plans to bring inspection portals into a single digital workflow. The address gave no completion schedule for these initiatives.
