From Crackdown to Capital Raising: SEBI Reports Rs312 Crore in Penalties, Rs1.85 Lakh Crore IPO Boom

Moneylife Digital Team 13 August 2025

Investor Interest

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) intensified its regulatory oversight in FY24–25, levying monetary penalties of Rs312.36 crore, initiating over 1,268 enforcement actions and introducing key market reforms, according to its annual report tabled in Parliament. The year also witnessed robust fundraising activity, with Rs1.85 lakh crore mobilised through 188 public equity issues, making FY24-25 one of the most active years in India’s capital markets.

SEBI chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey noted that the regulator’s focus in the coming year will be on deepening bond markets, enhancing cybersecurity for exchanges, and accelerating the transition to instantaneous trade settlement. He emphasised that FY24-25’s enforcement record demonstrates “SEBI’s zero-tolerance approach towards market abuse.”

SEBI reported issuing 522 adjudication orders, imposing penalties totalling Rs312.36 crore across cases of insider trading, fraudulent trade practices and disclosure lapses. The regulator disposed 1,268 cases during the year, with enforcement actions targeting both market intermediaries and listed companies. Disgorgement orders amounting to Rs61.25 crore were also passed, aimed at stripping wrongdoers of unlawful gains. SEBI says it intensified surveillance through its integrated market surveillance system (IMSS), detecting unusual trading patterns and acting swiftly against market manipulation.

According to the market regulator, FY24-25 marked a record year for India’s primary markets, with 188 initial public offerings (IPOs) raising Rs1.85 lakh crore, significantly higher than Rs1.58 lakh crore in FY23-24. The small and medium enterprises (SME) segment continued its upward trajectory with 182 SME IPOs mobilising Rs5,765 crore.

Debt markets also remained vibrant, with Rs6.74 lakh crore raised via corporate bonds. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers, adding Rs1.2 lakh crore to Indian equities, despite global macroeconomic volatility, the report says.

During FY24-25, SEBI introduced sweeping reforms during the year, including mandatory dematerialisation of units for alternative investment funds (AIFs), enhanced disclosure norms for ESG-labelled securities, and tighter governance requirements for market intermediaries. A landmark policy was the introduction of trading+zero days (T+0) and instant settlement pilots, aimed at reducing settlement risk and improving liquidity.

SEBI says it also finalised a framework for fractional ownership of real estate assets through regulated platforms, opening new investment avenues.

The regulator strengthened the SCORES grievance redressal system, reducing the average complaint resolution time to 16 days. Over 4.2 lakh investor complaints were resolved during the year.

SEBI also expanded its market data dissemination through the market data advisory committee’s recommendations, enabling greater transparency for retail participants.

In the coming year, Mr Pandey says SEBI proposes to initiate a comprehensive exercise to rationalise and optimise existing regulations. "It is recognised that excessive or overlapping regulatory requirements can lead to increased compliance costs for intermediaries and create operational rigidities. To address this, the focus will be on identifying and removing regulatory redundancies, simplifying procedural requirements and leveraging technology to ease the compliance burden," he added.

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