New Delhi, July 22 (KNN) Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi has said retail participation in the equity market has increased since the lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic began.

Addressing the 17th Annual Capital Market Conference ‘CAPAM 2020’, on the theme of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat: Role of Capital Market’, Mr Tyagi, said, ''New demat accounts have shot up as several participants were first time investors. We have seen a huge participation of retail investors in the last few months."

Tyagi further advised newcomers to the capital markets to begin their journey by first investing in risk free G-Secs.

''The issuance of G-Secs in demat form, apart from easing the process of making investments by non-institutional participants in these securities, may also facilitate easier raising of the borrowings,” he added.

In order to further improve the corporate bond and G-Secs market, Tyagi said that there is an inter-linkage between the corporate bond market and G-Sec market.

“The required reforms in the corporate bond market should be brought in without any further loss of time. Unification of financial markets is an idea whose time has come,” he added.

Tyagi also said that the market infrastructure for corporate bond and G-Sec markets should be integrated.

''Having two separate ecosystems results in artificial segmentation of investors and divergent governance and regulatory norms for institutions in the two markets performing similar functions,'' he said.

Highlighting the potential of Indian financial market, the SEBI chairman said that we are passing through difficult, stressful and uncertain times. However, the challenges also bring along with them several opportunities.

“The revival of the stock market and an uptick in fund raising by the corporates is encouraging. I exhort the captains of the industry to come forward and make bold investment decisions, and contribute towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.

In a bid to provide relief to companies affected by COVID-19, Mr Tyagi said that SEBI has issued a number of relaxations to facilitate fundraising by the corporates.

“SEBI has come out with relaxed norms for preferential issue pricing and exemption from open offer for eligible stressed companies. These relaxed norms, finalized after wide public consultation, can be used for restructuring of stressed companies without going through the IBC process. Of course, the guidelines have due safeguards built-in to prevent misuse,” he added.