The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is setting a roadmap to increase retail participation and penetration level of the equity and commodity markets across the country.

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For discussing the strategy, the capital and commodity market regulator has called a meeting of top broking officials on April 21.

Upendra Kumar Sinha, Sebi chairman, will chair the meeting. Representatives of BSE Brokers Forum and Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) will also be present in the meeting. Top equity market brokers will also attend it.

According to sources, Sebi wants to discuss broader issues of the capital market. The watchdog may also discuss innovative products for retail investors and talk about new products for replacing Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme with better tax incentives. It may also revisit the framework for retail distribution and ease of doing businesses for market intermediaries.

A broker, who has seen the invite, told dna that the idea is to discuss broader issues related to the capital market.

The number of demat accounts has increased at a very slow pace over the years and that is a matter for concern for the regulator.All individuals need a demat account to trade in the capital market. Brokerages help investors open such accounts with depositories such as the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) or the Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL).

Data with the depositories shows that the total number of demat accounts was pegged at 2.54 crore as on March 31. While NSDL manages 1.46 crore demat accounts, CDSL has 1.08 crore accounts under its belt.

In past, the regulator has expressed concerns in various conferences that the number of demat accounts in India is merely 2% of the total population.