
Sebi nudges brokers to tighten oversight of authorised persons amid rising risks
Sebi. Victims have also started complaining more since the markets have been down in the past two years and they have been forced to bear immense losses,” said Tomu Francis, partner at Khaitan and Co.APs operate under brokers’ control and cannot independently handle client funds or act outside regulatory limits.
Sebi regulations restrict APs from working across the board with all brokers. An AP can be associated with only one trading member for a given segment and cannot be appointed by multiple brokers on the same exchange.
They can affiliate with another trading member only for segments where their existing trading member is not registered.Stock exchanges have also stepped up engagement with brokers alongside Sebi. “NSE (National Stock Exchange) met all brokers a couple of weeks ago and told them again to ensure their APs do not engage in fraud,” the second person mentioned above said.NSE and Sebi did not respond to Mint’s queries sent on Wednesday.Sebi's regulatory push comes amid formal investigations against brokers who failed to control their APs.In November 2025, the regulator fined Angel One ₹300,000, citing unapproved trading terminals and inadequate internal audits after APs registered as employees under another AP were found trading among themselves.
Motilal Oswal faced a similar ₹300,000 penalty in June 2025 for oversight lapses, including use of unqualified personnel and misuse of client credentials."APs sometimes go beyond their role as they want to earn more money. They start promising assured returns to clients they have a long standing relationship with,” said Abhiraj Arora, partner at Saraf and Partners.Francis of Khaitan and Co.
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