The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is set to witness another tussle between its brokers, with Asia’s oldest bourse going to polls on September 19 to elect a trading member director on its board. The exchange will see an election for the first time in nearly five years.
Balkishan Mohta, the current trading member director, who is seeking a re-election, is one of candidates in the fray. However, the BSE Brokers’ Forum, a the body of BSE stockbrokers, has decided to support Kirti Doshi, 43, the chairman and managing director of Mumbai-based Antique Stock Broking, against Mohta.
Speaking to Business Standard, Kirti Doshi, who is also the vice-chairman of the forum, said: “I have been asked to contest the elections this time by the forum members as they feel that some brokers have been on the BSE board for a long time.” Mohta could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.
Praful Shah of Pilot Capital, yet another Mumbai-based stockbroker, who was also contesting for the post, withdrew his nomination on Friday. “I am not comfortable with the election procedure. I believed that I could convey my thoughts to shareholders of the exchange and win elections on a fair opinion. However, I am afraid of high proxy votes, which may not be in my favour,” said Shah.
“We have been hurt by allegations that the persistent interference by stockbrokers in the day-to-day working of BSE has hampered the growth of the exchange and has destabilised its professional working environment. Hence, the forum has taken a decision to support the trading member director’s candidature for not more than three years,” said a spokesperson for the BSE Brokers Forum.
The stock exchange has been embroiled in controversies since the resignation of three of its top executives, including its CEO Rajnikant Patel, about a month ago.
Sources claimed that many stockbrokers were unhappy with the board’s decision to impose a collective fine of Rs 27 crore on over 100 brokers across the country for dealing in shares of BSE-listed KGN Industries. The share price of KGN had recently shot up by nearly 100,000 per cent in a single trading session and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had asked BSE to take action against the manipulators.