The Hindu Business Line : SEBI is in no hurry to introduce T+1 settlement

THE Securities and Exchange Board of India is not for an early introduction of T+1 settlement in stock markets, though it may soon attempt to try it out in the Indian markets for the benefit of investors, the SEBI Chairman, Mr M. Damodaran, said here.

The current T+2 payment system itself is a big thing in the country's markets and even in countries such as the US it is three days and upwards.

As such, there could be no timeframe for introducing the shorter settlement system. Further, banks need to prepare themselves for such a system. Moreover, T+1 is convenient only for big investors in stock markets and not for small investors, he said.

Mr Damodaran felt that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) brought in by the RBI is doing well in the stock market payment system and hence there is no hurry for the SEBI to go for the shorter system.

The immediate priority before the SEBI is to bring more small and medium investors to the capital markets and also make companies to raise funds within the domestic market through book-building route of equity offers, he added.

He declined to comment on the imbroglio in Reliance Industries.

He was in the city to take part in the platinum jubilee celebration of Arya Vaidya Nilayam, the ayurveda major, here on Friday.

In a memorandum, submitted to the SEBI Chairman during his visit to the city, the Tamilnadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry appealed to him to direct the listed companies declare their financial results only after the close of trading business hours to avoid speculation.

It suggested that listed companies should come under the purview of both the National Securities Depository Ltd and Central Depository Securities Ltd as investors are put to difficulties during dematerialisation of their stocks. Also there is a need for some restrictions to control price fluctuations.

The Chamber has further pointed out that scrips that are not dematerialised yet, get traded in the market.

Either a cut off date be given to demat the shares of these companies or all the scrips that are traded in the physical form should be listed separately.

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SEBI is in no hurry to introduce T+1 settlement