to a range of barriers. these involve low productivity and efficiency, the inability to 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches adapt processes to different stages of business growth, a lack of investments in technology, and challenges in gaining market access. in this regard, we support a whole - of - government approach. for example, the department of trade and industry talks about the 7ms of successful entrepreneurs. the bsp, given its natural mandate specifically focuses on one of the ms, which is the money side of it... in this regard, we believe that barriers to financial access such as cost, information asymmetry, and lack of infrastructure can be addressed through market - based policies and cooperative arrangements. this can be done without necessarily compromising our focus on our core mandate of promoting financial stability. we have adjusted regulations to make them friendlier to credit - granting. we have set out comprehensive risk management guidelines under circular no. 855 precisely to provide the industry the flexibility to reach markets that are not so easily served by “ in - the - box ” solutions. we encourage you to take full advantage of this flexibility to design customized credit products and reduce the focus on collateral in providing credit. the bsp is not requiring banks to demand collateral from borrowers. rather, the regulations put forward that banks improve their understanding of clients ’ businesses, conduct meaningful credit and cash flow analysis, and use good judgment in gauging ability and willingness to pay. if we get this right, this will address a fundamental issue since small businesses and individual borrowers especially in the agricultural sector often lack real estate collateral even if they have adequate sources of repayment. another approach we have taken is to support efforts to build financial infrastructure and viable ecosystems that will sustain lending to micro and small businesses. this includes establishment of a credit information system, efficient secured transaction registries and a wellrun credit guarantee system. the bsp is working on all these fronts and will continue to engage and support these important initiatives. recently, we also issued guidelines on agricultural value chain financing ( vcf ) to facilitate credit to the agriculture sector. this opens up credit provision to all the players in an organized value chain. this framework aims to promote vcf as an effective, organized means of channeling funds to the agri - fisheries sector, promoting their financial inclusion. by encouraging linkages among various players in an agri - value chain, the credit risk of participating smallholder farmers and fisher - folk can be reduced and facilitate their access

##2 the electronic trading platforms ( reserve bank ) directions, 2018 dated october 05, 2018 unauthorised trading platforms, necessary cautionary advice has been issued against undertaking forex transactions on such platforms33. an ‘ alert list ’ of entities offering or promoting unauthorised forex trading facilities has also been issued34. 20. a risk - based regulatory framework for benchmark administrators was put in place in 201935 and fine - tuned in 202336 to ensure robust governance in benchmark administration in rbiregulated markets. regulations for market abuse were put in place in 201937. similar frameworks have been put in place for ( i ) governance, risk management and conduct, including customer suitability and appropriateness assessment by market - makers in otc derivatives ( 2021 ) 38 ; and ( ii ) margins for non - centrally cleared derivatives. exchange of variation margin was mandated in 202239. the framework for exchange of initial margin will be issued shortly. 21. requirements for transparency in pricing of otc derivative products for retail investors were also set out. in 2019, the fx retail platform was introduced to create a market infrastructure that would ensure fair and transparent pricing40. rbi cautions against unauthorised forex trading platforms dated february 03, 2022 alert list, updated as on november 24, 2023 financial benchmark administrators ( reserve bank ) directions, 2019 dated june 26, 2019 reserve bank of india ( financial benchmark administrators ) directions, 2023 dated december 28, reserve bank of india ( prevention of market abuse ) directions, 2019 dated march 15, 2019 reserve bank of india ( market - makers in otc derivatives ) directions, 2021 dated september 16, reserve bank of india ( variation margin ) directions, 2022 dated june 01, 2022 rollout of the foreign exchange trading platform for retail participants – fx - retail dated june 20, way forward 22. the recent financial market reforms undertaken by the reserve bank are aimed at providing a strong bedrock for markets to move to the next trajectory for meeting the growing funding requirements in the economy, providing cost effective hedging options and competing effectively in global markets. 23. the response to the regulatory measures has been encouraging. the participation base has been widening. retail participation in g - secs through the retail direct scheme has been growing. the vrr scheme has attracted interest from fpis, especially for corporate bonds. in recent months, robust foreign inflows in g - secs have been witnessed. non - resident