Will Not Allow Commercial Interest To Take Over General Public: SEBI's Tuhin Kanta Pandey On Issues Delaying NSE IPO

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, on April 17, Thursday, announced that they are working to resolve the issues that are delaying the National Stock Exchange (NSE) debut on the bourses, as per a report by Reuters. India's largest exchange first applied for its initial public offering (IPO) in 2016 but is experiencing a long-running case over equal access for its trading participants.

"We will not allow commercial interest to take over the general public interest, and it is for the regulator to ensure that," Kanta Pandey said on Thursday, April 17, on the sidelines of an industry event, as quoted by Reuters.

SEBI had fined the stock exchange with Rs 1,100 crore in April 2019. 

In April 2019, for not making sure that everyone got equal access and returned the NSE's listing document.

In 2024, the NSE restarted its public offer process and applied for a "no-objection certificate" (NOC) with the regulator.

The NOC is an important document that must be completed before NSE can file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).

SEBI had also asked NSE to raise the salaries of its key managerial personnel (KMPs). SEBI also asked NSE to offload its stake in NSE Clearing. NSE Clearing is a wholly owned clearing corporation with less than a majority stake ownership.

Additionally, in March 2025, NDTV Profit reported that NSE IPO could face a possible delay of up to two years in launching its IPO. This came after the exchange received a detailed letter from the SEBI raising concerns, including those over the exchange's internal processes, governance, and its lowering stakes in its clearing corporations.

NSE applied for SEBI's NOC for its IPI in 2019, twice in 2020, and then in 2024.

Later on, NSE in March 2025 had also written a letter to the SEBI seeking a no-objection certificate (Noc) in 2025 via a letter written to V S Sundarasan, the executive director, Market Regulation Department of SEBI.

Additionally, in October, the exchange paid around Rs 624.16 crore to settle another case linked with unfair access to its algorithmic trading software with SEBI, clearing a hurdle in the way of its public listing.