Guarding the Guard

Guarding the Guard D P Sharma THE Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) which had hitherto been functioning only under administrative guidelines has now been accorded the much-needed statutory status through a presidential ordinance arming it with wide-ranging powers to regulate almost every aspect of stock exchange and capital market-related activity, covering registration and regulation of stockbrokers, sub- brokers, share transfer agents, bankers to an issue, merchant bankers, underwriters, portfolio managers, investment advisors, investment schemes of mutual funds and monitoring and acquisition of shares and takeovers.