Stock brokers seek audience with FM, SEBI

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 23. The striking stock brokers of the major exchanges in the country have demanded an audience with the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha and the authorities of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to sort out the problems relating to the system of rolling settlement and the imposition of turnover tax.

Some of the brokers from Mumbai were in the capital today and admitted that they had reluctantly kept away from trading to highlight some of the problems relating to guidelines and norms set by the SEBI. Claiming that they were not against the system of rolling settlement (which in very simple terms means squaring up positions within a specified time period), the brokers, however, said that they did not want to be pushed into the system without providing for supportive measures. The alternatives they are seeking include arrangements like margin trading, stock lending and bank finances which are available in the international stock markets.

The brokers pointed out that the National Stock Exchange daily volume of transactions had fallen to Rs. 1,000 crores from the earlier high volumes of Rs. 15,000 crores and in the Bombay Stock Exchange from Rs. 5,000 crores earlier to around Rs. 500 crores after the introduction of the rolling settlement system. The steep fall in volumes would not only ruin the capital markets but the economy as well, the brokers pointed out.

Incidentally, reports from Mumbai indicated that today's turnover volume at the Bombay Stock Exchange was at a historic low of Rs. 7.62 crores only.

About the turnover tax imposed by SEBI recently, the brokers called for a review since brokerage had gone down considerably in recent times.

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Section  : Business
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