In a bid to enable the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to crack down on illegal investment schemes more effectively, the government has given more powers to the capital market regulator.

Sebi has been allowed to pass orders for search, seizure and attachment of properties, as well as for the arrest and detention of defaulters. The regulator is now also bale to pass disgorgement directions to recover the unlawful gains generated through menaces like ponzi schemes.

The regulator can also seek any information regarding a case from other regulators with retrospective effect. The power will enable the regulator to collect of details regarding cases pending for years due to lack of information.

In addition, Sebi investigators can now break open the lock of any door, locker, box etc to get hold of information from suspected entities.

In order to tackle growing nuisance of ponzi schemes, the government has classified any money collection of more than Rs 100 crore as Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) operation.

However, any government-notified schemes of Rs 100 crore or more have been kept out of the CIS framework.

The changes are part of around two dozen of amendments made in three main Acts, viz. Sebi Act, the Depositories Act, and the Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA).