What SEBI chief has to say about risks from bitcoins

Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said bitcoins has not posed any systemic risk so far, however, the cryptocurrency cannot be ignored and a government panel is looking into it. “There has to be a process or law, only then can you take action,” Tyagi told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry conference in Mumbai. Tyagi said there should not be any regulatory oversights on blockchain technology, saying this is a useful technology and should be encouraged. Blockchain technology is used to deal with bitcoins and other crypto currencies. At present, bitcoins are not approved by the RBI. Earlier while speaking at the summit, Tyagi said the Sebi is not looking at taking up too many cases for punitive action – rather, it aims at taking action only in such cases where strong action is merited. Terming the current year as ‘excellent’ for capital markets in India, he said the amount of funds raised through primary issues this year is more than the amount raised in the previous six years combined.

Tyagi said the regulator is working on tightening the nuts and bolts, rather than effecting big bang reforms, as this would be beneficial to everyone.Tyagi said the Sebi is trying to revamp its enforcement mechanism and is also working on tweaking certain regulations to make them simpler. “Sebi is trying to totally revamp its enforcement to see that whatever hard action is taken should serve as a deterrent. We should not be taking up many cases that we can’t handle, which can lead to harassment like allegations. We have to simplify it and also revisit the settlement regulations,” Tyagi said. He also said that Sebi is examining various recommendations made by the Uday Kotak committee report on corporate governance and that he has received hundreds of comments on the same from various stakeholders. On implementing the centralised KYC procedure for the entire financial system, Tyagi said that Sebi is looking for a more simplified set of norms.

Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI )