BSE to lose bond platform monopoly

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) may longer enjoy the exclusivity over the reporting platform for the corporate bond market.

For the convenience of National Stock Exchange (NSE) brokers and OTC (over-the-counter) deals, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided to extend the reporting platform to the NSE and the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivative Dealers' Association (FIMMDA). These exchanges will shortly be opening trading for their brokers on their own platforms.

The market regulator, in its recent board meeting, decided that deals be reported to either BSE or NSE depending where the deals are struck or whichever exchange the brokers belong to. If the deals are struck over the counter, it can be reported on the platform to be developed by the FIMMDA.

According to official sources, the decision has been taken to prevent the inconvenience caused to brokers registered with the NSE and striking deals on it. They said there was no reason why an exchange should have monopoly over trading or reporting of a certain instrument.

Corporate bond dealers, however, are of the view that this may not help the market much since reporting on one platform was making it convenient for the players to watch the volumes.

They feel the Sebi should rather make it mandatory for the depositories "� National Securities Depository and Central Depository of Securities "� to disclose the details of the corporate debt deals. This is because even if most of the deals in the corporate bond market are struck over the counter, they have to get cleared and settled by the depositories.

The market regulator, through a circular on December 12 last year, entrusted the BSE with the task of rolling out the unified reporting platform for all corporate bonds traded in the country.

While the BSE reporting platform is made available to the BSE trading members throughout a wide network of ethernet connections, others such as primary dealers, financial institutions, mutual funds and banks could access the platform for reporting through the internet.