RBI, IRDAI not in favour of banks, insurers’ entry into commodity derivatives: Pandey

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said the banking and insurance watchdogs are not in favour of allowing entities regulated by them to invest in commodity derivatives.

"Banks and insurance companies, the respective regulators are not very favourably inclined to allow the banks and the insurance companies to invest in commodity derivatives and they have some valid rationale for it," Pandey said during a fireside chat at IMC Capital Market Conference 2026 in Mumbai on Monday. The respective regulators are the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). 

Pandey added that the pension regulator in India had also looked at allowing pension funds to invest in commodity derivatives, but did not disclose whether it had made a decision. Furthermore, the chairman said Sebi will soon issue an advisory to market intermediaries on emerging risks from Anthropic's Mythos and other artificial intelligence tools. 

"We have engaged with all stakeholders in this and shortly we are going to issue an advisory in terms of how they should really be very alert on the vulnerabilities that may be there and doing a proactive role in trying to do that," Pandey said.                                 

-PTI