NSE IPO: What SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said about much-awaited public issue

NSE IPO: The buzz regarding the highly anticipated National Stock Exchange (NSE) IPO refuses to fade. Amid this, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has made an important statement.

Speaking at the FE CFO Awards on Friday, Pandey asserted that no obstacles will remain for NSE to launch its initial public offering.

When asked about whether the issue will happen before Diwali 2025, the SEBI chief declined to share any timeline.

He reiterated that the capital markets regulator is fine with the ownership of the clearing corporation by the bourses and stated that the ownership is "not an obstacle" to launching the IPO.

Pandey said that every nation has its models when it comes to ownership of clearing corporations, pointing out that brokers own it in the United States of America, while they sit as separate entities in India.

The career bureaucrat-turned-regulator, who assumed office in March this year, said the NSE is in the process of settling some legal processes, which will lead to paying some amounts and withdrawing some cases at present.

The biggest hurdle interfering with the initial share sale is the co-location case, which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The case relates to the alleged preferential access provided to some broking firms in the form of ‘dark fibre’ at the NSE to connect across the co-location facilities before other members, leading to an unfair advantage.

SEBI had also previously pointed out concerns related to NSE's technology infrastructure.