From a government resolution to a statutory regulator: the Act behind SEBI

Background

Investor protection keeps coming up as the securities market regulator signs fresh tie-ups on investor education, so the body itself is worth knowing. The Securities and Exchange Board of India first came into being through a resolution of the Government of India, and at that stage it had no statute behind it. It was given statutory standing a few years later. The law that governs it is the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, and the Act is numbered 15 of 1992. Its preamble sets out the basic purpose of the Board, which is to protect the interests of investors in securities. Alongside that, the Board is charged with developing the securities market and with regulating it, together with matters connected to those two tasks. So the regulator is best remembered by three things: a non-statutory start by executive resolution, a statutory footing under its own Act, and a preamble built around the investor.