MUMBAI: Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has sought active cooperation of chartered accountants (CAs) to build a stronger financial market architecture with standardised complex valuations by ensuring that price assumptions are consistent, transparent, and well-documented.
Addressing the national convention of chartered accountants in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, he said “no regulatory framework, however well-designed, can substitute for professional integrity. And no professional discipline influences market behaviour as widely as that of chartered accountants.
“We need deeper, more structured collaboration with your profession because your inputs are invaluable us in areas like standardising complex valuations by ensuring assumptions are consistent, transparent, and well-documented,” he said.
The chairman also sought their help in raising the audit and assurance quality especially in areas involving data analytics, digital evidence, and emerging risks.
Further Pandey sought the help of CAs in forensics and early-warning frameworks as their ability to detect patterns and anomalies can prevent crises long before they materialise.
Calling for their help to enhance capacity building in the financial markets he said Sebi needs CAs help to jointly develop training modules for digital assurance, valuation standards and forensic techniques.
“When regulators and professionals move in concert, the market ecosystem becomes stronger, more transparent, and resilient. This partnership will only grow in importance as we navigate the emerging complexities of modern markets—complexities that demand sharper skills, deeper integrity, and a renewed commitment from all of us,” he said.
As markets are evolving faster than the traditional frameworks we were trained in the role of CAs becomes even more critical today, he said, adding “your ability to bring clarity to complexity, to test assumptions, to assess emerging risks, and to question with professional skepticism is what protects investors and strengthens markets. But to continue playing this role effectively, continuous learning is not an option but a necessity.”
Reeling out data, he said the market capitalisation has risen from around Rs 100 trillion in FY15 to over Rs 470 trillion now (down from over Rs 540 billion last year).
This compounded annual expansion at a rate of 16% reflects a steady shift towards greater market participation across the economy. It also means our enterprises are increasingly turning to public markets to power their ambitions,” he said.
Between FY16 and FY25, nearly Rs 93 trillion has been raised through equity and debt issuances. These numbers represent not only transactions, but the financing of new capacities, infrastructure, technology, and job creation.
In just the first eight months of this financial year, 260 IPOs have raised Rs 1.5 trillion, while the overall equity mobilisation has crossed Rs 3.1 trillion. By mid-December IPO fundraise has already crossed the last year record and is on course to cross Rs 2 trillion mark).
The corporate bond market has expanded steadily with the bonds outstanding now standing at Rs 55.4 trillion, growing at over 11% annually since FY15. This signals a maturing ecosystem where long-term capital formation is increasingly market-driven. Participation, too, tells an equally compelling story as the count of active individual investors has tripled from around 1.2 crore in September 2020 to 3.5 crore in September 2025.
On other hand, mutual fund assets have grown from Rs 24 trillion in 2019 to close to Rs 81 trillion by November this year, while the investments in alternative investment funds has expanded more than fivefold from Rs 1.1 trillion to Rs 6.1 trillion in the same period.