Major SEBI overhaul: Consolidated trading rules to streamline market operations
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a major revamp of trading-related regulations with a unified trading rulebook aimed at simplifying processes, eliminating duplication and easing compliance for stock market participants across equity and commodity segments.
In its consultation paper, the markets regulator suggested consolidating overlapping provisions related to trading rules, price bands, market-wide circuit breakers, bulk and block deal disclosures, call auctions and liquidity enhancement schemes to create a more streamlined and transparent market framework.
SEBI has proposed 54 key changes, including merging equity and commodity market rules into a single structure covering margin trading facility (MTF), unique client codes, PAN-based compliance, trading hours and daily price limits.
The paper recommends merging bulk and block deal disclosure norms, with exchanges disseminating disclosures at the client PAN level rather than the Unique Client Code (UCC) level, which is expected to reduce manual reporting requirements for brokers and enhance data transparency.
It also proposes isolating provisions applicable to clearing corporations into a separate master circular to avoid regulatory overlap. Additionally, SEBI has suggested uniform penalty norms for exchanges and clearing corporations concerning client code modification and order-to-trade ratio (OTR) allocations.
Other recommendations include presenting market-wide circuit breaker rules, IPO price band norms, dynamic price band mechanisms and call auction procedures in a structured, tabular format to improve usability and reduce ambiguity.
According to SEBI, the objective is to simplify regulatory requirements, eliminate redundant provisions and improve ease of doing business (EODB) for exchanges, brokers and investors.
The move aligns with the government’s earlier commitment, highlighted by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to simplify compliance frameworks and reduce operational costs within India’s financial markets through continuous consultation.
IANS