BSE’s Ashish Chauhan in race for NSE MD and CEO role

BSE’s incumbent chief Ashish Kumar Chauhan is likely to apply for the MD and CEO job at the National Stock Exchange, sources told BusinessLine.

Chauhan’s second five-year term as BSE MD and CEO ends in November and he is eligible to move to other exchanges, the sources said. NSE is scouting for an MD and CEO since the first five-year term of its current chief Vikram Limaye ends in June and he has decided not to contest for another term.

Experts and market watchers say Chauhan’s credentials as a turnaround man for the BSE and his hands-on knowledge about the exchange technology business and regulations, could give him an edge over the other candidates.

Much like the NSE currently, BSE had an image problem before Chauhan took over the reins of the exchange in 2012. In nearly 10 years, the BSE has only grown in its regulatory prowess with initiatives like launch of a Mutual Fund Trading platform, being the first in starting GIFT City operations, SME and commodity trading and listing of CDSL and BSE. The market-cap of BSE has risen from ₹4,000 crore in 2017 to nearly ₹12,000 crore as on date. 

In terms of technology, BSE under Chauhan has emerged the fastest trading venue in the world with a roundtrip speed of six microseconds after processing three crore orders per minute and more than 1,200 crore orders per day.

Even as NSE’s image was marred by recurring tech glitches for the past few years, Chauhan’s stock kept rising as his decision to change BSE’s trading technology from CMC to Deutsche Borse, paid off well.

BSE also developed in-house technology for clearing and settlement. Chauhan, who was among the five founding members of NSE in early 1990s, will be competing with NSE insiders for the top post, sources said.

Chauhan did not comment for the story.

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