On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken a significant step towards enhancing the transparency and accessibility of the Indian corporate bond market with the launch of Bond Central, a centralized database portal. This platform is designed to offer investors easy access to critical, real-time information on corporate bonds, thereby promoting transparency, reducing information asymmetry, and improving investment decision-making in India’s financial markets.

What is Bond Central?

Bond Central is a free, publicly available repository consolidating corporate bond data from multiple sources, including stock exchanges and depositories. It was developed in collaboration with SEBI, the Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPP) Association, and Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs).

Development and Collaboration of Bond Central

The creation of Bond Central has been made possible through a collaborative effort between SEBI, the Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPP) Association, and market infrastructure institutions (MIIs), which include stock exchanges and depositories. The platform pulls data from multiple sources and aims to present a consolidated view of corporate bonds across these various institutions.

Unlike other commercial financial databases that often come with hefty subscription fees, Bond Central is entirely free, offering a level of public access that encourages greater participation and informed decision-making among investors.

Objectives of Bond Central

The central aim of Bond Central is to create a unified, transparent platform for corporate bond data that can help investors make better, more informed financial decisions. The key objectives of the platform are:

• Promoting Transparency: By providing easy access to corporate bond data, Bond Central helps ensure transparency in the bond market, which is essential for maintaining investor trust and confidence.
• Standardizing Data: The platform seeks to standardize the presentation of corporate bond data, thereby reducing the issue of information asymmetry and ensuring that all market participants are working with the same set of reliable information.
• Providing Free Access to Financial Data: In line with its goal of promoting democratic access to financial information, Bond Central offers free access to its comprehensive database, removing the barriers often posed by costly subscription models used by other financial data platforms.
• Assisting Investors in Bond Comparisons: By providing investors with detailed data, the platform enables users to compare corporate bonds not only against each other but also with other financial instruments, such as government securities, to make more informed investment choices.

Key Features of Bond Central

The Bond Central portal offers a wide range of features designed to help investors assess and evaluate corporate bond investments. Here are some of its key features:

1. Integrated Data Repository

Bond Central consolidates corporate bond data from multiple sources, including stock exchanges and issuers. This centralized data repository ensures that investors have access to all the relevant information in one place, making it easier for them to perform research and analyze bonds.

2. Comparison with Government Securities (G-Secs) and Indices

One of the standout features of Bond Central is its ability to allow investors to compare corporate bond prices with government securities (G-Secs) and other fixed-income indices. This feature aids investors in assessing the relative risk and return of corporate bonds versus more secure investment options like government securities, helping them plan their investment strategies effectively.

3. Risk Assessment and Disclosures

The platform also provides detailed risk assessments of corporate bonds, including issuer-related disclosures. This feature enables investors to better understand the risk profile of the bonds they are considering, empowering them to make well-informed investment decisions.

4. Standardization of Bond Data

To ensure consistency and eliminate discrepancies, Bond Central presents corporate bond data in a standardized format. This reduces confusion among market participants and promotes confidence in the data, ensuring that all investors are able to interpret the information uniformly.

5. Free and Open Access

Unlike many financial databases that require costly subscriptions, Bond Central is completely free and open to the public. This initiative is a step towards democratizing access to critical financial data, allowing individual investors and market participants to make well-informed decisions without incurring additional costs.

Future Prospects

The first phase of Bond Central went live on 27^th February 2025, and SEBI has indicated that new features will be added over time based on users feedback. The platform will continue to evolve, further enhancing its functionality and ensuring that it meets the needs of investors and market participants.

As more features are incorporated, the platform is expected to play an increasingly important role in the development and growth of India’s corporate bond market.

Conclusion

The launch of Bond Central by SEBI marks a significant milestone in the evolution of India’s corporate bond market. With its focus on transparency, data standardization, and free access to information, Bond Central will empower investors, improve market efficiency, and foster greater confidence in the corporate bond market. As the platform continues to grow and evolve, it holds the potential to become an indispensable tool for all market participants, further strengthening India’s position in the global financial landscape.

Disclaimer:  This is an effort by Lexcomply.com, to contribute towards improving compliance management regime. User is advised not to construe this service as legal opinion and is advisable to take a view of subject experts.