Ashish Chauhan at Fortune India Summit 2026: NSE’s Focus on Regulation Over Business Interests

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will continue to prioritise its regulatory responsibilities over business considerations, even after its much-awaited public listing, Managing Director and CEO Ashish Chauhan said.

Speaking at a fireside chat titled Compounding the India Growth Story with Sourav Majumdar, Editor-in-Chief of Fortune India and Group Head-Business Publications at RPSG Group, at the Fortune India Banking & NBFCs Summit 2026, Chauhan said the NSE had already been operating with the disclosures and accountability expected of a listed company.

“We are regulators first, companies later,” Chauhan said, adding that the exchange would choose its regulatory responsibilities over business interests whenever the two conflict.

The NSE’s shareholder base has grown from around 2 lakh to more than 36 lakh following its listing, increasing its responsibility towards investors, Chauhan said. He added that managing a larger shareholder base was part of running a large company.

He also cautioned companies against allowing short-term share-price movements to dictate business decisions.

“Don’t look at share price and run your company. Your company has to run,” he said, arguing that managements should focus on running their businesses rather than reacting to market fluctuations.

Chauhan said India had become increasingly innovative in financial services over the past three decades, driven by advances in automated stock markets and digital payment systems such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

“We have become a very, very innovative country, especially in financial activities over the last 30 years,” he said.

The growth of India’s capital markets reflects this transformation. Listed market capitalisation has expanded from around ₹4 lakh crore in 1994, when the NSE began operations, to approximately ₹475 lakh crore today. The exchange’s investor base has also grown from around 10 lakh investors at its inception to 13.5 crore unique investors and 27 crore accounts.

The NSE was listed on September 24, 2026, after raising ₹22,562 crore through an offer for sale, making it India’s third-largest IPO after Jio Platforms’ ₹30,213 crore issue and Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,859 crore offering. In FY26, the exchange accounted for 93% of equity cash-market trading, 100% of equity futures trading and 73% of equity options trading.

Chauhan said India’s regulatory approach had focused on maintaining stability while gradually incorporating new technologies and methods. He also stressed that financial institutions should prioritise efficiency rather than expect their margins to remain protected as technology reshapes financial services.

“Efficient uses of resources, including money, should be on top of everyone’s priority, not maintaining margins of banks,” he said, adding that banks should find ways to expand their business and sustain profits.

“Everyone has to be hungry and working hard for their lunch. There is no free lunch,” he said.

On concerns over retail losses in futures and options (F&O), Chauhan said regulators could consider minimum qualification or product-suitability criteria for derivatives trading, drawing on approaches used in markets such as Singapore, Europe and the US.

He said stronger safeguards for small investors need not significantly reduce overall market activity, given the concentration of derivatives trading among a relatively small number of accounts.

“It’s not that people are going to have less derivatives in Indian markets; it’s just that you’ll have a safer market for small investors,” he said.

Chauhan cautioned that easier access to markets could also encourage speculation, underscoring the need for regulation to evolve alongside technological change and rising investor participation.