New Delhi, Oct 3: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to finalise its proposed changes to the Closing Auction Session (CAS) mechanism soon after receiving more than 3,500 comments from market participants, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Saturday.
Pandey said the capital markets regulator would examine the feedback and move ahead with the process shortly, noting that the proposals in the consultation paper were specific and clearly defined.
The consultation, which closes on October 3, covers proposed changes to the CAS mechanism, trading hours and the methodology for determining settlement prices for index and stock derivatives on expiry days.
SEBI had invited stakeholders to provide comments and suggest alternative approaches to address issues identified in the existing framework.
Pandey said the regulator would now review the responses and take the consultation process forward.
Focus on corporate bond derivatives
Speaking at an event organised by the Commodity & Capital Market Participants Association of India (CPAI), Pandey also highlighted SEBI’s focus on developing the corporate bond derivatives market.
He said growth in the segment would require regulatory support, adequate technology infrastructure and wider participation from market participants.
SEBI has been working to strengthen electronic and exchange-based systems in the bond market. Measures include an electronic bidding platform for primary bond issuances, a regulatory framework for online bond platform providers and steps to improve the request-for-quote mechanism in the secondary bond market.
Pandey said the development of bond indices and derivatives would represent an important milestone for India’s capital markets.
SEBI, RBI working to ease FPI access
On foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows, Pandey said SEBI was working to simplify market access and the onboarding process for overseas investors.
He noted that FPI investment flows ultimately depend on the returns and opportunities available across different markets.
SEBI is also coordinating with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on measures to further ease access for FPIs. The regulator has already introduced measures including allowing FPIs to participate in non-agricultural commodity derivatives.
Pandey said the regulator’s role was to respond to concerns raised by overseas investors and make onboarding and market access more efficient, while investment decisions would continue to depend on relative opportunities across countries.
