CSE seeks F&O card

Brokers of the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) have demanded introduction of derivatives trading at the bourse in order to revive it. They said the derivatives segment could be offered to members through a subsidiary route of the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The introduction will increase trading volumes at the exchange manifold and help rejuvenate the cash market, brokers said.

Members are considering to approach the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) within 10 days with this appeal. They have also sought assistance from two newly elected Left Front MPs from the city, Md Salim and Sudhanshu Sil, to bolster their demand.

The trading volume in the CSE has gone down to less than Rs 1 crore a day from the height of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore before the payment crisis shook the bourse in March 2001.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange and the NSE, two bourses with pan Indian participation, the derivatives segment is much bigger than the cash segment.

"The CSE has spent more than Rs 40 crore on developing a modern trading platform. Currently the bourse is allowed to trade in the cash market only. However, with the introduction of derivatives at the NSE and the BSE, the CSE has been left behind. If Sebi allows an immediate derivative segment through a subsidiary route of the NSE to members of the CSE, the cash segment of the bourse will automatically get revived," Bijay Kumar Agarwal, secretary, Calcutta Securities Brokers Welfare Association, said.

CSE has 1180 members at present. However, no new members have joined the bourse since end-2001.

Members now pin their hopes on the Left Front which has a strong say in economic policy matters at the Centre. Salim and Sil promised to extend all possible help to vent members' grievances to appropriate authorities. "There is a strong case to revive regional exchanges," Salim told CSE members at a meeting on Friday.

The broker members of the erstwhile CSE board, which was superseded by Sebi on December 4, 2003, alleged inefficiency on the part of officer on special duty and special officer T K Das.

"In spite of having full powers, authority and control at his command, the administrator could not bring out a business strategy to revive the bourse," a member said adding that the plan of introducing deferral products was left in abeyance for long time.