TMS Ep298: Regulate 'finfluencers', EWS quota, Markets, Regulatory sandbox

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slapped a fine of $1.3 million on Kim Kardashian last month. The reason. The reality TV star was promoting  crypto security on Instagram without disclosing that she was paid for it. In Australia, there is a five-year jail term for financial influencers who operate without a licence. But in India, where the number of finfluencers and their followers are rapidly rising, their promotional activities seem to fall in a grey area. So far, the country’s financial regulators have not carved out any specific norms that finfluencers should stick to. Our next report offers insight into it

The Karnataka High Court recently asked the government to come up with regulatory measures to keep a tab on Instagram influencers. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the 103th amendment to the Constitution, which paved the way for 10% reservation for people of economically weaker sections. A Constitution bench in a 3-2 verdict said that reservation on economic basis does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution. So what will be the likely impact of this judgement? 

Moving on to financial markets, the recent earnings report card of various public sector banks saw profitability improving better-than-expected due to broad-based credit growth. While this does make a case for further re-rating of the sector, data suggests PSU Banks are trading 25% higher than their historical average. Does this make them investment worthy at current levels? 

Key financial sector regulators like SEBI, RBI, IRDAI, IFSCA and PFRDA recently came together to allow an interoperable regulatory sandbox. It will help them launch hybrid products and services which may need overseeing by more than one regulator. But what exactly is a regulatory sandbox? This episode of the podcast explains it in details.