COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

SEBI committed to derivatives and reforms, says its chairman

Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman D R Mehta today categorically stated that the SEBI is fully committed to the reforms in capital market and bringing in derivatives trading.

SEBI had given approval to various proposals of the National Stock Exchange against the Centre's approval for the derivatives trading for the preparation to launch the index-based derivatives, he said.

The SEBI chairman was speaking at the launch of the CNX indices of the India Index Services and Products Limited, a joint venture of the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited and the National Stock Exchange, in Bombay today.

Mehta said that fund managers will find the new indices very useful in a new era of index-based futures trading. Referring to the reforms in capital markets, the SEBI chairman said the 100 per cent computerisation in the stock markets and transparency are the achievements of the market reforms and held the charge that SEBI is killing market by introducing stringent norms as baseless.

He revealed that securities worth Rs 400 million have been dematerialised in the Demat Segment while the figure will reach Rs 500 million by the end of August by joining of 150 more scrips in the Demat, he added.

Mehta said that foreign institutional investors have expressed their satisfaction over the framework of SEBI when a delegation comprising FII representatives met him recently.

Comparing the Indian markets with the world markets, he said that despite the crisis-like situation in Asian markets, the FII investment in the market witnessed substantial rise these days. He informed that the net FII investment in India till July 27 was $ 15.6 million while overall net FII investment stood at $ 8.85 billion till date. The SEBI chief said the trend in FII inflow itself shows their confidence in Indian market.

Speaking on the occasion, NSE chairman S H Khan said the NSE is ready to launch index-based derivatives as soon as permission granted by SEBI. Khan said the launch of CNX indices was indeed very timely and said the fund managers can use CNX indices for hedging their exposures in the equity market. Mutual funds also can now start index-based funds and it would be useful for mutual funds and portfolio managers for managing their funds, he said.

UNI