Securities regulators in the United States and India today announced terms for increased co-operation and collaboration.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)announced a new dialogue between the two countries focusing on three main objectives: identifying and discussing regulatory issues of common concern; continuing and expanding the existing program of capacity-building and technical cooperation between the SEC and the SEBI; and improving cooperation and the exchange of information in cross-border securities enforcement.

The dialogue will be composed of regular meetings and ad hoc information exchange at the staff level and between high-level representatives of the SEC and SEBI. Several topics have been identified for discussion for the dialogue over the coming year: oversight of dually regulated entities, regulatory and compliance issues relating to outsourcing, accounting and auditing standards, and corporate governance standards and internal controls, among other things.

“As financial services and investment continue to grow and expand between the United States and India, the SEC and SEBI are increasingly working together to facilitate our aims of investor protection and healthy markets,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “The SEC has worked with SEBI over the past few years on extensive capacity-building programs as well as enforcement matters. I look forward to continuing and strengthening our regulatory and enforcement cooperation with SEBI through this high-level dialogue.”

SEBI chairman M. Damodaran said, “Given the role that emerging and recently emerged markets play in an increasingly globalised financial world, it is only befitting that the SEBI and SEC work closely for the protection of investors and for ensuring fair, efficient and transparent markets. The high level discussions between the two regulators, while promoting capacity building, would also enable both the SEBI and SEC to take suitable joint and collective action where needed.”