Historically, regulating insider trading has been the exclusive
domain of the Securities Exchange Board of India
("SEBI"). This is in line with the
regulatory approach witnessed in most jurisdictions around the
world. In consonance with the modern regulatory approach, SEBI not
only acts as a watchdog, but it is also empowered to constantly
fine tune the rules and guidance in relation to insider
dealing.
However, with the adoption of the Companies Act, 2013, the
Parliament has passed a law outside the purview of SEBI to regulate
insider trading. The Companies Act had attempted to incorporate
some of the provisions the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading)
Regulations, 1992, but SEBI has notified the SEBI (Prohibition of
Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, which changes the law on
insider trading considerably. Therefore, there now exist two
different regimes that regulate the offence of insider trading.
