The government will take a final decision on foreign direct investment (FDI) in stock exchanges within the next 10 days, finance ministry sources said.The policy would make it clear if bourses can invite FDI while divesting brokers' equity in them to below 49% in line with Sebi guidelines on demutualisation, they added.The finance ministry officials have already held two rounds of discussion with RBI Governor Y V Reddy and other officials. Another round of discussion will be held with Sebi chairman M Damodaran in 2-3 days, they said.While the finance ministry will give inputs, the commerce ministry will frame the FDI policy.Nasdaq has reportedly expressed interest to pick up stake in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).The need for an FDI policy on stock exchanges was not felt earlier since most of them were not companies but associations of persons, which meant that traders held equity in the bourses. Since the government has now made it mandatory for all the bourses to corporatise and demutualise, the policy becomes inevitable, the officials said.
