Pandey noted that corporate governance is often viewed through the lens of regulations, board structures and disclosures, but stressed that its true foundation lies in credibility
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Friday called on company secretaries to take a more proactive role in anticipating risks, guiding company boards and safeguarding institutional integrity, as India's capital markets deepen and broaden.
Speaking at an event, Pandey said that rising retail participation in equity markets has raised expectations around fairness, transparency and robust corporate governance. "Markets can tolerate business risk. What they struggle to tolerate is governance uncertainty," he said, warning that even minor lapses can have outsized consequences as markets expand.
Pandey noted that corporate governance is often viewed through the lens of regulations, board structures and disclosures, but stressed that its true foundation lies in credibility. "Governance is not merely about procedural compliance. It is about credibility in decision-making, in managing conflicts and in the way information is shared with investors," he said.
He added that the role of company secretaries in listed firms is set to grow not just in terms of compliance workload, but in the depth of responsibility they carry. With capital markets becoming more complex, information travelling faster and reputational risks emerging more quickly, governance can no longer afford to be reactive, he said.
"The future belongs to professionals who can anticipate risks, guide boards through ambiguity and uphold institutional integrity, even under pressure," Pandey said.
He concluded by noting that governance often goes unnoticed when markets function smoothly, but its absence becomes sharply visible when failures occur, to investors, regulators and, at times, the wider economy.