Ashish Chauhan, who was on Friday appointed the new managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), will have his hands full. Apart from the challenge of competition from rivals, Chauhan’s top priority will be to get the country’s oldest stock exchange listed by next year, said a source close to him.
Chauhan had recently announced that BSE was working on the process to get listed and the bourse has set up an IPO committee. “We are in the process and we hope to get listed in the first or second quarter of calender year 2013,” he had said.
An alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta, Chauhan joined the BSE in 2009 and was functioning as its interim CEO for the past six months. Since joining, Chauhan played a key role in bringing significant changes to BSE, especially pertaining to technology upgradation and contributing to regulatory issues. BSE’s most innovative product, the cash-futures spread (CFS), was the brain-child of Chauhan. CFS is close to a trading strategy which was used for carry forward trades in the 1990s and was the chief reason for BSE’s monopoly in the market.
Still, gaining market share in the equity segment remains BSE’s challenge, especially when MCX-SX is gearing up for launch in the segment and National Stock Exchange is using aggressive methods to attract volumes. BSE’s cash market share, that was more than 25 per cent a few years ago, is now 20-22 per cent. On average, BSE generates around Rs 15,000 crore worth of derivative volumes but that is aided by an incentive scheme. Also, BSE will have to make significant changes to improve its technology to get inline with global exchanges that could attract attention of large institutional traders. Experts say, BSE cannot be projected as a standalone trading platform. To be inline with global players, business consolidation is required that will make the exchange an end-to-end solutions provider.
Also, the BSE will require to build a strong team of professionals as many officials have left the bourse in the past. Prior to 2009, BSE suffered major credibility and confidence crises due to legacy issues.
Chauhan’s profile
Chauhan is a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM), Jabalpur. He serves on Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), PNG on Information Technology and Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC). Prior to joining BSE, Chauhan worked as the President and group chief information officer (CIO) of Reliance Industries. He was ranked among the top CIOs in the world by several magazines and institutions from 2005-09. Chauhan holds a B Tech in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay (1989) and PGDBM from IIM Calcutta (1991).
