NSE Closes SEBI Case with ₹40.35 Cr Settlement, Clears Path for IPO Revival

India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country’s largest exchange and the world’s busiest derivatives market, has settled a regulatory case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by paying ₹40.35 crore (approximately $4.6 million). The payment resolves allegations that NSE indirectly shared confidential, price-sensitive information of listed companies with a third-party vendor through its subsidiary, NSE Data and Analytics Limited (NDAL), without formal legal agreements. This information reached clients before it was officially published on the NSE website, violating SEBI’s disclosure norms.

The compliance order, dated July 31, 2025, was issued after SEBI’s inspection covering the period from February 2021 to March 2022.

The regulator found significant lapses: 

• Outsourcing of historical trade data storage to a third party without binding contracts.
• Confidential price-sensitive announcements are being shared prematurely/
• Internal governance failures, such as penalty waivers by committee members without proper approval.
• Lack of proper policies on reviewing error trades and inadequate due diligence over client code changes.

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NSE filed a suo‑motu settlement application under SEBI’s Settlement Proceedings Regulations, 2018, proposing a payment of ₹40.35 crore along with certain non-monetary terms, including a system audit and compliance reporting. The proposal formally closed the enforcement proceedings without NSE admitting or denying guilt.

An internal disciplinary committee review by NSE concluded that the compliance lapses were organisational or board-level issues rather than attributable to any specific individual. This finding was endorsed by its Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Board of Directors.

The settlement is seen as a major step toward unblocking NSE’s long-delayed initial public offering (IPO) process. NSE’s filing indicates it has also submitted two other settlement applications regarding the 2019 co-location and dark fibre cases, together totalling a proposed ₹1,388 crore payment. SEBI is still reviewing those applications.

Conclusion

By settling the data-sharing and governance cases through a ₹40.35 crore payment and compliance commitments, NSE has drawn regulatory closure on a key issue. This may pave the way for its long-postponed IPO, provided remaining settlement applications for co-location and dark fibre cases are approved. The move also underscores heightened scrutiny of market infrastructure entities and governance standards going forward.