ewsba.se
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has introduced a 30-day lag on the sharing and use of market data for educational purposes, ending a year-long regulatory confusion.
In a circular issued on Friday, the markets regulator said the new norms will come into effect from 1 July 2026.
The confusion stemmed from two circulars that appeared to set different timelines for sharing and using market data. In a circular issued in May 2024, Sebi prohibited market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) and intermediaries, including stock exchanges, from sharing price data for educational purposes with a delay of less than one day.
Months later, in a separate 2025 circular, the regulator tightened the framework further by mandating a three-month lag for the use of such data in investor education and awareness programmes.
The inconsistency between the two timelines resurfaced during hearings before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in the Avadhut Sathe matter.
In an ex parte interim order passed in December, Sebi barred Sathe and his firm, Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy (ASTA), from the securities market and ordered the impounding of ₹546.16 crore, alleging that the institute was operating unregistered investment advisory and research analyst services disguised as stock market education.
To support its case, Sebi cited multiple instances in which Sathe allegedly used market data to make stock recommendations.
Before SAT, the appellants contended that the differing timelines prescribed under the two circulars had created a “regulatory vacuum”, resulting in confusion over the permissible delay for the use of live market data.
The circular came after a consultation process that began in January, suggesting a 30-day lag for the sharing and use of market data.
In the circular, Sebi said the two previous circulars addressed different aspects of market data usage. While the 2024 circular permitted exchanges to share price data for educational purposes with a one-day lag, the 2025 circular addressed how old the data must be to qualify for purely educational use, prescribing a three-month delay.
Sebi received feedback from stakeholders that a one-day lag for sharing price data was too short and left scope for misuse, while the three-month delay made the data far less useful for educational purposes.
The regulator, however, carved out an exception for the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), Sebi’s training and capacity-building arm. The NISM will continue to have access to market price data with a one-day lag for use in its simulation lab, given its role in conducting Sebi-mandated certification programmes and training market intermediaries and regulatory officials.
Apoorva is a Mumbai-based journalist at Mint who covers the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), tracking the pulse of India’s capital markets, regulatory developments and the people who operate within them. She holds a postgraduate diploma in business and financial journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, where she developed a strong foundation in markets, companies, and economic policy. She began her journalism journey with an internship at Bloomberg, where she worked across beats such as real estate, infrastructure, capital markets, and deals, which helped her understanding of business and finance.<br><br>She is guided by the belief that everything in this world can be explained in simple and fewer words, and that idea shapes how she approaches her writing. She aims to cut through complexity and present nuanced regulatory and financial developments in a way that is both accessible and meaningful to readers.<br><br>When she is not tracking market chatter, Apoorva can usually be found deep into a fiction novel or out on a long run. She is also a trained classical dancer in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, and Kathakali.
Catch all the Business News , Market News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.