SEBI Chairman says reports on curbing weekly expiry are ‘speculative’

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Wednesday (August 6) said that a recent report suggesting changes to the weekly options expiry cycle is ‘speculative’.His comment followed a report that stated SEBI is in talks with the Finance Ministry to replace weekly options expiries with bi-monthly or monthly ones in an effort to reduce speculative activity.

Following the clarification, BSE shares were trading 1% higher at ₹2,403 apiece.

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????#SEBI Chairman says reports on curbing #weekly #expiry are speculative pic.twitter.com/iJ8VGUocrC— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) August 6, 2025

The report had indicated that the proposed shift in expiry frequency was intended to curb short-term volatility and guide retail investors toward the cash equity segment.

Commenting on the same, Ashish Chauhan, CEO of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), said, “As frontline regulators, we will do what SEBI says.”

He was responding to questions about reported curbs on weekly options, among other developments.

In a separate development, SEBI has issued new guidelines for market infrastructure institutions (MIIs)—stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories—for handling requests to review or waive penalties related to regulatory actions.

Under the new guidelines, if the action was taken by the Internal Committee (IC) or based on a pre-approved policy of the MII, then the Member Committee (MC) will still handle the review, appeal, or waiver requests, Sebi said in its circular.