Regulators tighten market rules

Market regulators in the Philippines and India moved this month to tighten who can audit companies, who can sell securities, and how investment funds must be structured. (philstar.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com 1) (economictimes.indiatimes.com 2) In Manila, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it is tightening oversight and raising qualification standards for auditing firms and external auditors under Rule 68, which governs financial statements filed with the agency. The proposal was issued for public comment on April 1, 2026. (philstar.com) (msn.com) The Philippine proposal also expands the accreditation framework to cover auditors of government contractors, a change the commission said is aimed at investor protection and anti-corruption enforcement. (philstar.com) (mb.com.ph) In India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India issued an interim order on April 10, 2026 barring 39 individuals and entities from the capital market in an alleged manipulation case tied to RRP Semiconductor. (sebi.gov.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The regulator said RRP Semiconductor shares rose from 15 rupees to 10,887.10 rupees in 19 months, or about 725 times, without any matching improvement in the company’s financials or business plans. Sebi also ordered depositories to freeze the shares held by the accused and impounded about 20 million rupees in alleged unlawful gains. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Sebi’s order said the preliminary examination covered trading between April 2, 2024 and October 31, 2025 and found links among entities through calls, fund transfers, or common addresses. The order named promoters and directors Ira Mishra, Sumita Mishra, and Ramesh Mishra among those restricted. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (sebi.gov.in) Sebi also issued separate guidance on how “broad-based” funds must work when asset managers serve alternative investment funds, which are private pooled vehicles for strategies such as private equity or venture investing. The regulator said the test applies at the scheme level, not just at the umbrella-fund level. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Under that guidance, each scheme must have at least 20 investors, and no single investor can hold more than 25% of the corpus. Sebi also said both master funds and feeder funds must separately meet the rule. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (moneycontrol.com) A securities lawyer told The Economic Times the guidance reads like “a new rule,” arguing Sebi should have defined “pooled assets” more clearly in the Mutual Fund Regulations, 2026. Sebi’s position, as reported by the paper, is that domestic institutions such as banks, insurers, and provident fund trusts cannot use foreign portfolio investor exemptions on a look-through basis. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The common thread is that both regulators are moving upstream, into audits, fund structures, and trading networks, before problems reach ordinary investors. In both countries, the next step is compliance: public comments in the Philippines and enforcement or restructuring in India. (philstar.com) (sebi.gov.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com)