Sebi to meet NSE body on self-regulation

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman M Damodaran will meet members of the Association of NSE Members of India (Anmi) to discuss the issue of self-regulatory organisation (SRO) for the capital market.

The Sebi chairman said the Anmi had sought an appointment with the regulator to discuss the SRO issue.

"We will meet them soon. I know about the SRO issue, which Anmi has already raised, but we have yet to take any view on this. We think more discussions are required on the SRO issue," he said.

Sebi had recently floated the idea that the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) could act as an SRO for the mutual fund industry.

Anmi President Vijay Singhania said the association had already drafted the approach paper for SRO as per the direction of the regulator, which was in line with the existing SROs in advanced markets.

"We are ready with the draft and now the Anmi has sought appointment with the Sebi chairman to discuss the issue," he added.

The head of the SRO Committee of Anmi, Vijay Murmuria, pointed out that the proposed SRO would encompass the entire capital market, which would include the members of the BSE and the regional stock exchanges along with the NSE.

"We are not talking about the NSE alone. The SRO should take care of the entire capital market," he said.

According to Murmuria, the Anmi currently has 700 members. If it gets the SRO status, then the number would go up to 15,000.

"We are ready with the necessary amendments in our memorandum of association. Besides, we already have necessary infrastructure to become SRO. If we get a go-ahead from the Sebi, then it will not take much time to put in place a system," he added.

The head of the Anmi SRO Committee said the SRO would work at the member level.

"We shall look into member-level control, where the Sebi and the stock exchanges will do the main regulatory job along with surveillance. The SRO will help them in surveillance," he added.