SEBI Chief Says Centralised KYC To Become Interoperable, PMLA-Compliant

Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey shared key insights on the market regulator’s ongoing efforts on the long-standing issue of a unified know-your-customer framework.

Pandey, in an interactive session with NDTV Profit, confirmed that SEBI is actively working with the Ministry of Finance and other financial regulators to establish a centralised KYC system.

"Efforts are underway to make Sebi Central KYC and existing KRA system interoperable from PMLA point of view," he said.

Centralised KYC is a system that allows your identity verification to be done once, and then used across all financial services—like banks, mutual funds, stockbrokers, and insurance companies, among others.

“A common KYC across all financial regulators would be a significant step forward,” he said, adding that interoperability between SEBI's KYC processes and those of other regulators might be the way forward. This would ease onboarding processes for investors and improve regulatory efficiency.

In discussion about other issues, Pandey also addressed questions on the SEBI's stance on cryptocurrency. He maintained that the matter is a “policy issue” and firmly within the domain of the Ministry of Finance. “Crypto is not a security in the traditional sense. SEBI does not regulate it, and any regulatory stance will be determined by the ministry,” he clarified.

SEBI is also undertaking a broad-based exercise to simplify regulations and reduce compliance burdens without compromising effectiveness. “The goal is more impact with less onerous regulation,” said Pandey, noting that each SEBI department is reviewing existing frameworks for possible rationalisation.