



India’s merchant bankers brace for a Sebi squeeze
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: India’s merchant banking industry may be headed for a sharp contraction as the market regulator's new, tougher regulatory framework threatens to push out a large number of players who have stayed on the rolls but barely participated in the Indian capital markets.
Of the 238 merchant bankers registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as of 5 January, only 113 did even a single issue in calendar year 2025 across all categories of offerings, including initial public offerings (IPOs), small and medium enterprises IPOs, debt issues, infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Of these active entities, about 70% handled only single-digit issues through the year, according to data compiled by investment banker Pantomath Capital Advisors.
The data underscores the scale of the problem Sebi is seeking to address with a sweeping overhaul of merchant banking regulations aimed at pruning inactive players, strengthening balance sheets and reducing systemic risk—changes that are likely to trigger consolidation across the industry. The new rules, notified in the Gazette of India on 5 December 2025 and effective from 3 January 2026, divide merchant bankers into two categories based on net worth and liquid net worth.
Category I merchant bankers must build a net worth of ₹25 crore and liquid net worth of ₹6.25 crore by January 2027 (phase I), rising further to ₹50 crore and ₹12.5 crore by January 2028 (phase II). Category II firms face lower, but still enhanced, thresholds.
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