SEBI Chief Says RBI Decides How Much Money Can Go Abroad

Mumbai | 30 September 2026 

The RBI decides how much money can go out of India, and in what manner, SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday. He spoke at the third annual conference of the Association of Portfolio Managers in India. 

Pandey was asked whether SEBI’s new permission for portfolio managers to invest client funds overseas could lead to more Indian money moving out of the country. 

He said everything must be consistent with the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The new permission is subject to both. 

What Do SEBI’s New Portfolio Manager Rules Allow? 

The permission comes from the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2026, which SEBI’s board approved on 24 September. The rules cover both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio managers. Discretionary managers decide where to invest a client’s money, while non-discretionary managers invest as the client directs. 

The rules permit them to invest in specified overseas securities, including: 

• Listed equity and debt 

• Real estate investment trusts (REITs) 

• Overseas mutual funds 

• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) 

• Index funds 

• Foreign government debt 

Pandey pointed to the RBI on how its limits would apply to portfolio management clients’ overseas investments. 

What Did Pandey Say on India’s Market Decline Compared With Japan and Korea? 

Pandey was also asked about the Indian market’s recent decline compared with Japan and Korea. He said where to invest is for investors to decide, and it would not be appropriate for regulators to comment. 

How Closely Are the RBI and SEBI Working Together? 

Pandey said coordination between the RBI and SEBI has increased, leading to better norms for the bond market and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). 

“There is much more active inter- regulatory coordination… say for RBI and SEBI. We have been working very closely and we’ve been able to sort out many issues,” he said. 

On the bond market, Pandey said: “One of the points that we are working on is bond indices, how we can have bond indices trading on exchanges.” A bond index tracks the performance of a group of bonds. 

How Are SEBI and the RBI Making Foreign Portfolio Investor Registration Easier? 

Pandey said SEBI and the RBI are working to make the registration of FPIs faster, seamless and digital. SEBI aims to cut FPI onboarding time to five days. The process can currently take more than a month. 

Pandey listed the steps already taken: 

• A revamped front end at National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) 

• The India Market Access portal 

• A common application portal that allows tracking 

• Digital signatures in place of wet signatures (signatures in ink on paper) 

• Electronic power of attorney 

He said these steps reduce the need for notarisation, apostille and consularisation. These are processes in which officials certify that documents are genuine. 

Pandey also said the RBI is looking at allowing FPI registration documents to be uploaded through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Banks around the world use SWIFT to send secure messages. 

What Did Pandey Say About Delisting Companies With No Visible Business Activity? 

Pandey also took a question on listed companies with no visible business activity. He said exchanges have a continuing duty to monitor companies after listing. 

He said delisting rules exist for companies that are not physically present or carrying out economic activity, and delistings have taken place before. Delisting removes a company’s shares from a stock exchange. 

He said physical verification by exchanges is possible, and the delisting process should be carried out properly, as investors need confidence that listed companies are genuine. 

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