India flags cyber + deepfake market risks

India’s market regulator spent its 38th Foundation Day talking less about growth and more about what could break it: cyberattacks, deepfakes and fake investment apps. (pib.gov.in) (thehindu.com) At the Mumbai event on April 25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a single successful attack on a major exchange, depository, clearing corporation or large broker could disrupt markets nationwide, erase wealth and damage confidence for years. (pib.gov.in) (ndtvprofit.com) She said artificial-intelligence tools are making attacks faster, more adaptive and harder to detect, including through automated vulnerability discovery, software supply-chain attacks and malicious source-code interference. (pib.gov.in) (thehindu.com) Sitharaman also tied the threat to retail-investor protection, saying social platforms are seeing an “explosion” of fake investment videos and apps, with some using deepfake AI to impersonate public figures. (pib.gov.in) (theweek.in) That shifts cybersecurity from a back-office technology problem into a market-integrity problem. In her framing, a hacked exchange or a convincing fake promotion can both damage trust in the same financial system. (pib.gov.in) (fortuneindia.com) SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey used the same event to argue for a parallel track: simpler regulation for firms, backed by stronger technology inside the regulator. He said SEBI would expedite rule simplification and invest in technology-led oversight to expand supervisory capacity. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Pandey said India’s markets now include more than 5,900 listed companies and over 140 million unique investors, with market capitalization growing about 15% a year over the past decade and mutual-fund assets growing more than 20% annually. (theweek.in) Sitharaman pointed to SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework, which took effect in April 2025, as a base for tougher defenses. She also launched Mission Jagrook, a nationwide investor-awareness campaign, and called for outreach in regional languages across major platforms. (pib.gov.in) She paired that with another consumer-facing ask: common know-your-customer norms, so investors do not repeat the same verification process across multiple products and platforms. (indianexpress.com) (government.economictimes.indiatimes.com) The message from Mumbai was that India wants easier rules to follow, but tougher systems watching the market. SEBI’s next test is whether it can make both happen before the next scam or system breach does it for them. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (pib.gov.in)