The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed to change the ‘fit and proper person’ criteria for market intermediaries including stockbrokers, in a move to reduce compliance burden for entities facing legal proceedings.

The regulator has suggested to remove automatic disqualification of individuals holding key positions on filing of an FIR (first information report) or a charge sheet in economic offence cases.

“It has been represented that mere pendency of criminal complaint or FIR or filing of charge sheet should not trigger disqualification, as filing of such criminal complaint or FIR or charge sheet are the preliminary steps to set the criminal law into motion. The same is also stated to be against the settled principle of criminal law that all persons are innocent until proven guilty,” Sebi said in a discussion paper on Wednesday.

The move comes after the regulator submitted before the Bombay High Court that it would review its rules on ‘fit on proper person’ after brokers involved in the National Spot Exchange (NSEL) case, including Anand Rathi Commodities and Motilal Oswal, challenged a Sebi order declaring them ‘not fit and proper’ to operate.

These brokers argued that disqualification merely on allegations was a violation of their constitutional rights.

As per current rules, intermediaries, key managerial personnel and persons in control incur a disqualification if there is a pending criminal complaint or FIR filed by Sebi or a pending charge sheet concerning economic offences by an enforcement agency.
The regulator has now proposed that a rule-based formula may be onerous and not appropriate as it could lead to unintended consequences such as putting a person at a disadvantageous position at a preliminary stage of pending criminal complaint or charge sheet, which could later result in acquittal or discharge.This may also be counterproductive to the objective of promoting ease of doing business, it said.

Any serious or incriminating factor may be taken into account on a case-to-case basis in the context of the person’s overall conduct and the potential risk to the interests of the investors, Sebi said.

The regulator said it would come out with guidelines regarding cases where pendency of criminal proceedings is egregious enough to incur disqualification.

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Chrysler is recalling more than 450,000 vehicles and more than 2,000 tow-trailer modules over a light brake failure that could raise the risk of a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The recall impacts 456,287 vehicles and an additional 2,871 tow-trailer modules, the NHTSA said in a pair of notices on Monday.

The affected vehicles contain the faulty modules, which the agency said were improperly designed.

TOYOTA RECALLS 161K TUNDRA TRUCKS OVER REARVIEW CAMERA DEFECT THAT INCREASES CRASH RISK

The modules impacted by the recall may result in the brake lights on attached trailers failing to illuminate, or they may cause trailer brakes to fail altogether, cutting visibility and increasing crash risk.

The impacted products include the 2026 Jeep Cherokee, 2024-2026 Jeep Wagoneer S, 2025-2026 Ram 1500, 2025-2026 Ram 2500, 2025-2026 Ram 3500, 2025-2026 Ram 4500, 2025-2026 Ram 5500 and certain Mopar tow-trailer modules.

Anyone with the recalled tow-trailer modules installed can take them to their Fiat Chrysler Automobiles dealer for a free replacement. If the module is not installed, dealers will repurchase the item.

If the tow-trailer module is installed in a vehicle, dealers will replace it for free. If the tow-trailer module is not installed in a vehicle, dealers will repurchase it.

TOYOTA RECALLS ABOUT 127K PICKUP TRUCKS, SUVS OVER POTENTIAL ENGINE ISSUES

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Owners of recalled vehicles that come with the module installed can take them to their Fiat Chrysler Automobiles dealer for a free replacement.

Owner notification letters will be sent out on March 24, 2026.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is not planning any immediate measures to regulate equity derivatives, chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday.

“At this moment, we are not contemplating any measures, and whatever framework that we have put in place, that will continue,” Pandey said. “When we as a regulator look at derivative markets, we do so in a very methodical manner based on data.”

The government raised transaction taxes on equity derivatives in the Union Budget to curb speculative trading. India’s futures and options volumes are more than 500 times the country’s GDP, underscoring the need for arate adjustment to rein in excessive activity, it said.

Separately, on the US-India trade deal, he said it would help get more investments into the country.

“Fundamentally, when you have an overhang of a regulatory action which is removed, and trade frictions removed, capital formation is always accelerated,” Pandey said. He added that the removal of the uncertainties can spur investment decisions and get a greater predictability on capital. “So overall in the situation I could say that with the deals that have been done on the trade side, a lot of uncertainties have been removed,” he said.

Algo Trades may Soon Not Face OTR Penalties
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday proposed changes to its order-to-trade ratio (OTR) framework for equity options, to exempt algorithmic orders placed by market makers from OTR penalties.
Under the revised framework, for equity option contracts, orders placed within a range of 40% above or below the last traded price (premium) “or ± ₹20, whichever is higher, shall be exempted from the framework for imposing penalty for high OTR,” the regulator said in a circular.At present, stock exchanges place economic disincentive for high order-to-trade ratio of algorithmic orders placed by stockbrokers. Further, algorithmic orders placed by designated market makers for market making activity would not be considered towards computation of OTR, Sebi said. “Orders placed within the range of ±0.75% of the LTP shall be exempted from the framework for imposing penalty for high OTR,” it said

No Fresh Curbs on Equity Derivatives
Pandey was speaking at the launch of a corporate-bond outreach event, where he noted that measures are being considered to deepen the bond market. Sebi will engage with market participants on implementing the Budget proposals related to corporate bonds, he said.

The recent Budget has proposed a series of reforms aimed at improving liquidity in the secondary market.

“A market-making framework will support continuous twoway quotes, reduce bid-ask spreads, and improve price discovery, thereby making corporate bonds a more reliable asset class for investors,” Pandey said. “Derivatives on corporate-bond indices and total-return swaps will help investors in efficient risk management. As secondary-market liquidity improves and investor base widens, the corporate-bond markets will become a more reliable and cheaper funding route for issuers.”

In FY25, issuers raised about ₹10 lakh crore through debt issuances. Outstanding corporate bonds have grown at roughly 12% CAGR, rising from ₹17.5 lakh crore in FY15 to ₹58 lakh crore by end-December 2025, according to Sebi data.

Pandey noted that the market remains heavily skewed towards highly rated issuers, who account for 90% of all bond issuances. Nearly 60% of funds are raised by financial institutions, limiting sectoral diversity.

“This concentration limits the choice available to investors and restricts fair price discovery across different sectors of the economy. The secondary market remains shallow because institutional investors follow a ‘buy-andhold’ approach rather than active trading,” he said.

This is further compounded by the dominance of private placements, which can reduce transparency and make it harder for smaller issuers to access the market, he added.

More than 5,600 companies are listed in the equity market, but only about 770 entities have raised funds through the debt market. Of these, 272 have tapped the market multiple times, while many have issued debt only once or twice, Sebi data showed.
He also said a Sebi survey showed that more Indians know about crypto currencies than about bonds.

Motilal Oswal Private Wealth is advising investors to adopt a balanced allocation strategy — anchoring portfolios with large-cap or hybrid funds, and complementing them with staggered exposure to midand small-caps — with sentiment improving following the finalisation of the India-US trade deal.

“Investors could allocate 50% to large caps and hybrids, 40% to mid and small caps, and 10% to global markets,” says Ashish Shanker, MD & CEO, Motilal Oswal Private Wealth. He recommends making lumpsum allocations to large caps and hybrids immediately, while staggering investments into mid and small caps over the next couple of months. Within global markets, he favours emerging-market exposure.

Following the sharp run-up in silver prices, the wealth manager suggests partial profit-booking for investors with heavy exposure, while maintaining a neutral stance on gold for portfolio stability. Those under-allocated to gold can consider gradual accumulation on dips for ‘moderate’ medium-term returns.

Asian stocks dropped for a second day after Wall Street investors moved out of technology firms and rotated into a broader range of companies amid concerns about high valuations and spending.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.3% at the open. The Kospi Index in South Korea — a poster child for artificial intelligence investments and the best-performing index worldwide this year — led the losses, dropping 1.6%.

The Asian moves came after the Nasdaq 100 saw its worst two-day rout since October, breaching its 100-day moving average, a level seen by some technical analysts as a harbinger for more losses. Futures contracts for US gauges, however, rose 0.3% in early Asian trading, indicating selling pressure may be easing.

Elsewhere, gold and silver advanced, continuing their rebound from a historic plunge, while Bitcoin trimmed some of its losses. The yen was a touch weaker at 156.93 to a dollar on Thursday, extending its losses with elections in Japan set for the weekend. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index held its gains from the prior session.

The tech-heavy selloff reflected further concerns among investors regarding tech valuations, high levels of spending and the potential for AI to cannibalize established software business models. In tech-related earnings, Alphabet Inc. shares fell in extended trading after outlining an ambitious capital spending plan, while Arm Holdings Plc slipped post-market on a disappointing sales forecast, and Qualcomm Inc. gave a lackluster revenue outlook.

“There might be a glass half full and a glass half empty perspective on the moves here,” said Kyle Rodda at Capital.com. “On the one hand, tech stocks are potentially too richly valued. On the other hand, the strength in the market is broadening out in a sign of improving economic fundamentals.”

In other corners of the market, Bitcoin hovered near $73,000, with prediction traders betting the world’s most popular cryptocurrency will drop below $65,000. Treasuries were mixed on Wednesday, with the short-end of the curve rallying. The US two-year yield fell two basis points while the 10-year ended one basis point higher.
The pound and euro were steady ahead of interest rate decisions due later Thursday. The European Central Bank and Bank of England are expected to leave rates unchanged.
Meanwhile, clear signs of momentum behind the tech sell-off emerged. The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF plunged 3.7%, while a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. basket that goes long high-beta momentum names and short the opposite tumbled 9.8%.

Rotation out of tech was the main theme during the US session and software firms saw another wave of selling, but moves were bigger in chipmakers. A Bloomberg gauge of the so-called Magnificent Seven companies fell 1.8%.

What Bloomberg strategists say…
What looks like a brutal equity rotation away from concentration is actually proving to be a bright spot for the broader market. US equities are experiencing a rotation that in the moment seems painful, but was ultimately inevitable.

— Brendan Fagan, Macro Strategist.

Traders are also paying attention to the moves in the precious metals. Gold and silver rose for a third consecutive day after retreating from a record on Friday.

Precious metals soared last month in a rally underpinned by speculative momentum, geopolitical upheaval and concerns about the Federal Reserve’s independence. The surge came to a sudden halt at the end of last week, with silver seeing its biggest ever daily drop on Friday and gold plunging the most since 2013.

Gold traded just above $5,000 an ounce and silver was about $89.

In the US, service providers saw the strongest back-to-back growth since 2024 as business activity picked up even as employment barely expanded. While companies added fewer jobs than expected, recent data has pointed to limited layoffs.

Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping of China discussed trade and geopolitical flashpoints, including Taiwan, during a Wednesday call ahead of a planned face-to-face meeting later this year.

In commodities, oil fell for the first time in three days after Iran confirmed it would hold negotiations with the US, easing the immediate risk of military strikes against the OPEC producer.