Source: The Hindu
Context: SEBI has proposed an advertisement code for Online Bond Providers Platforms (OBPPs), in a consultation paper released to boost reach and address the need for investor awareness about this asset class.
What is an Online Bond Providers Platform?
- An OBPP is a SEBI-registered electronic platform that allows retail investors to buy and sell corporate bonds online, in the same way they would buy shares through a broking app.
- Why they were created. Corporate bonds in India have traditionally been an institutional market — traded in large lots between banks, insurers and mutual funds. A retail investor with ₹50,000 had no practical way in. OBPPs broke the market into small, purchasable units and put them on an app.
- SEBI introduced the OBPP framework in November 2022, requiring such platforms to register as stock brokers in the debt segment of a recognised stock exchange.
