Can SEBI or the exchange directly freeze my trading account?

Yes. SEBI or stock exchanges (NSE/BSE) can directly instruct brokers to freeze an account under the following scenarios:

• Insider trading or market manipulation investigations
• Surveillance alerts or unusual trading activity
• Non-compliance with SEBI circulars (e.g., PAN/Aadhaar linkage, UCC norms)
• Court or tribunal orders
• Defaulter or banned entity list inclusion

In such cases, the broker is legally obligated to enforce the freeze immediately.