Oct 15 2023, 10:21
Sebi's protection for investors & finance markets:
Sebi wants to protect investors, and also make financial markets more robust with the use of technology. This includes extending trading hours for derivative markets, putting in ASBA-like facilities for secondary markets, and reducing the settlement process from T+1 to one hour.
While the broking community has welcomed the move, implementation is easier said than done.C Parthasarthy, chairman and managing director of Karvy Group, was arrested by the enforcement directorate.
This was on account of INR2,000 crore scam where Karvy Stock broking, its flagship company, had pledged securities belonging to clients. Sebi’s idea is to protect investors from fraud, and also make financial markets more robust with the use of technology.
“Operational cost — in technology and manpower — will increase for brokers once extended trading is in place. Since volumes are expected to move up gradually in late evening sessions, it will take time for business to generate incremental profits. Hence, small brokers are likely to face a tough time,” explains Siddhartha Khemka, vice-president - head of research (retail) at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“The overall ecosystem may take some time to adapt to these changes. They may not happen swiftly because there are too many intermediaries involved and a small glitch could impact the systems all over,” says Arun Chaudhry, chief business officer at m.Stock by Mirae Asset Capital Markets.“Currently when a client defaults on payments, the broker steps in to cover for the shortfall.
This essentially means the broker takes on liability risk for his client. Now, with the implementation of ASBA, the broker is out of the picture and liability risk remains a concern,” warns Tejas Khoday, co-founder and CEO of Fyers, a tech-focused broker.
“First the trading for futures must be extended so that institutions can participate, then options can follow suit. Otherwise, options will be thinly traded, which may give rise to price manipulation,” insists Wadhwa.
Oct 16 2023, 16:18