'Sebi panel looking into NSE's IPO-related issues'

MUMBAI: Markets regulator Sebi is looking at ways to sort out issues relating to the initial public offering (IPO) of NSE, the largest stock exchange in India in terms of turnover. Sebi set up a committee to look into various issues related to NSE's IPO, the regulator's chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Thursday.

The Sebi chief was speaking to reporters after delivering his speech at CII's annual corporate governance summit. He said NSE was also asked to resolve all the issues related to the IPO and that it would be done at the earliest. It's been about nine years since NSE first filed its papers to go public, but several issues, including Sebi investigations against the exchange and some court cases, stalled the process.

However, the Sebi chief said that for institutions run with both a social motive and a profit motive, the regulator would not allow commercial interest to take over interests of the general public.

"We will not allow commercial interest to take over the general public interest, and it is for the regulator to ensure that," Pandey said.

He explained that India adopted a model where commercial or for-profit entities became exchanges. At the same time, he said it was the regulator's job to ensure that the interest of the general public was not compromised at any level.