SEBI to set up research advisory committee

SEBI, the capital markets regulator, is looking to fortify its analytical arm. The primary objective behind this is to improve its market surveillance and risk management activities.

SEBI chairman announced the plan at the 55th Annual Conference of Indian Econometric Society, organised by the National Institute of Securities Market, Mumbai University.

The plan involves the establishment of a research advisory committee backed by a team of researchers, market practitioners and economists.

The committee would work on defining the objectives, scope and direction of research activities which are critical for monitoring the Indian capital markets.

Apart from spearheading the research efforts, the committee may generate databases, promote research proposals and seek research collaborations.

Speaking his mind, the former SEBI chairman stated that preconceived biases existed in decisions taken by the policymakers. Therefore, there an independent research agency is a must to reduce such biases, and help the policy-makers frame decisions which would be backed by facts rather opinions.

As there’s a dearth of insightful research on Indian markets, such a move would give opportunities to researchers to contribute in this regard.

Additionally, the research may be used to monitor policy decisions and analyse their post-implementation impact. Such findings would help to build a robust market and enable efficient discovery of prices.

There have been continuous efforts to develop a policymaking framework which matches the benchmarks used worldwide. The research committee can contribute a lot in this respect.

The research proposals developed thereby will also enable identification of regulatory gaps and comparison of local policymaking with global standards. SEBI has also instituted a research internship programme to support its research promotion endeavours.