Amarjeet Singh, Whole-Time Member, SEBI
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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is moving forward with its pilot on tokenisation of corporate bonds in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India, with a wider project expected in the near future.
The tokenisation pilot would examine whether shared data can enable the simultaneous transfer of securities, making settlement more efficient and reducing reconciliation costs, SEBI Whole-Time Member Amarjeet Singh said on Thursday.
The pilot is also expected to examine the feasibility of automated coupon payments and other servicing events through smart contracts. “This is not about creating a separate trading market. It is about examining whether technology can make the existing bond market simpler, faster and more efficient,” Singh said.
Bond push
The regulator is also looking to deepen the corporate bond repo market, which currently has typical daily volumes of around ₹6,000 crore but accounts for less than 1 per cent of overall repo volumes. SEBI is engaging with relevant authorities to iron out some of the issues that extend beyond the regulator’s remit, he said.
To improve liquidity in the secondary market for corporate bonds, the regulator is also working on the design of a formal market-making framework as proposed in the Union Budget 2026-27. The market had nearly 33,000 outstanding instruments across 7,200 issuers, creating a fragmentation challenge, Singh said.
“We are therefore examining how issuers can be concentrated in fewer benchmark issues along with measures such as issuer buyback, liquidity support arrangements and further development of the RFQ platform,” he said.
Distribution framework
SEBI is also working on a distribution framework aimed at broadening access to corporate bonds, allowing online bond platform providers (OBPPs) to appoint certified channel partners. Existing mutual fund distributors would also be able to participate.
“We want to meet on a vibrant distribution framework, and perhaps again we are working on that, and we hope to issue a consultation paper sometime soon,” he said.
The proposed channel partners would be certified through the National Institute of Securities Markets and would neither handle bank funds or securities nor charge investors separately, Singh said. “Broadening participation will require an effective and responsible distribution architecture,” he said.
The regulator is separately working on risk disclosure, including a graded risk-o-meter for bonds. These measures are aimed at making the corporate bond market “deeper, more liquid, diversified, accessible and trusted,” Singh said.
Published on August 20, 2026
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