SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board Of India) has in the last few years been in the thick of the action to improve the overall efficiency of the investment market in India. Some of the noteworthy initiatives have been the increase of retail investor limit in IPO to 2 lakh, reducing IPO listing time to 7 days and another towards making ULIPs investor friendly
All these initiatives have been in one way or the other geared towards increasing retail investor participation which is a good step by definition. SEBI now wants to get a handle on the beast that has been rampant for quite a while. Market abuse/manipulation is a undeniable component in financial markets and if i am to generalize, a global phenomenon.
In order to further protect investor interests, SEBI is now looking to invest in advanced technology to improve market surveillance and investigation. SEBI has earmarked a Rs. 18 crore investment in setting up Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence System. The DWBI system is expected to generate timely reports on market activities and help the authorities spot market aberrations and any unfair trade activities
A business intelligence tool is definitely a step in the right direction from SEBI to make sense out of the immense data that flows in-and-out of its systems on a daily basis. A good reporting tool might help the executives make better sense out of the data and get actionable insights on the market activity. If used properly, the DWBI tool might help SEBI in not only better surveillance but also in understanding market and investor trends over a period of time. A deeper understanding of market and investor dynamics might go a long way in refining the market policies and align them better with investor interests.
All in all a prudent investment in technology for a market body that deals with massive amounts of data. However, only time will tell how well the DWBI tool is implemented and used by SEBI
