Sebi revokes restrictions on USD-INR contracts

With rupee stabilising over the recent months, market regulator Sebi today revoked certain restrictions it had imposed on dollar-rupee derivative trading in July last year.
On July 9, 2013, Sebi in consultation with RBI had doubled the initial margins and extreme loss margins for USD-INR contracts. These steps were taken in the backdrop of extreme volatility in rupee valuation against the US dollar, which had seen the Indian currency soar to near Rs 70 level against the greenback.
With normalcy coming back to the rupee-dollar trade and the Indian currency now trading near Rs 60 level, these restrictions are being eased now and the margin requirements are being halved from the current level to bring them back to their original levels.

In a circular issued today, Sebi said it has decided to "restore the margins for USD-INR contracts to pre-July 8, 2013 rates".
The decision would be effective from April 15.