Sebi's new margin norm may nudge trading towards buy-and-hold investing

The market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has introduced several new norms that will force traditional stockbrokers to alter the way they operate. These changes aim to reduce systemic risk and minimise the chances of frauds by brokers, which occur with disconcerting regularity in India. Some of these changes came into effect from September 1, while the others will be rolled out gradually. 

Pay upfront margin 

Earlier, the concept of margin collection existed in derivatives, but not in the equity segment. Now a minimum margin of 20 per cent of trade value has to be collected