By Staff Writer
The Indian securities regulator, the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has lauded the power of blockchain technology going so far as to say that it has the potential to bring about a “paradigm shift” in how securities markets operated.
In a speech delivered on Thursday (January 23), the chairman of the Sebi Ajay Tyagi said that the blockchain can be used in clearing, settlement, and record-keeping, echoing the sentiments towards the new technology shared by many securities watchdogs in the developed world.
“Blockchain-based solutions are being developed by some foreign exchanges for settlement and by domestic exchanges for KYC recordkeeping purposes,” he said.
He, however, said there is a need for more research on how the benefits of the technology can be harnessed.
“There is a need for active research into these technologies to explore their best possible usage in securities markets,” Tyagi said at a conference jointly organized by the regulator and industry bodies.
In addition, he also highlighted the important role of such news technologies as Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, data analytics and natural language processing that are markedly reshaping the securities industry, adding that “change is the only constant.”
With increasing digitization of information and ability of AI and ML to read unstructured data, AI/ML is being increasingly deployed in fund management, trading supervision and surveillance activities,” he said.
India has a “banking ban” on cryptocurrencies, even though the regulators and the authorities have maintained a positive stance on blockchain as technology just like other major nations such as China. The Indian Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case against the banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India on January 28.
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