SEBI plans unified exchange-traded corporate bond market

Mumbai, May 15 (UNI) The Securities&Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has submitted a plan for setting up a unified exchange-traded corporate bond market as mooted by the Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his 2006-07 budget speech.

Suggesting that Bombay Stock Exchange be mandated to operate it, the market regulator said BSE, being in a position to set up a separate and independent clearing and settlement mechanism, can be asked to set up a platform for trading. This, SEBI added, would eliminate concentration of settlement risk being with one organisation such as Clearing Corporation of India Ltd(CCIL).

An internal committee of SEBI, which prepared the plan, said it would help the two big stock exchanges -- NSE and BSE -- have their own specialisations in different segments of the market rather than both concentrating on the same areas.

The committee, under the Chairmanship of SEBI whole-time member Dr T C Nair, said since the two exchanges already have most of the required infrastructure in place, one of them could make a beginning towards setting up a reporting platform and ,thereafter, a platform for undertaking anonymous order matching of trades.

Other members of the committee were Mr Pratip Kar, Mr R S Loona and Mr R K Nair, all Executive Directors, and Mr Dulal Chanda, Chief General Manager, SEBI.

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