Today marks the launch of same-day securities settlement by the BSE and the NSE. On Wednesday, a list of 25 common scrips was made public. These will be settled on an optional basis that same day.
In line with a BSE circular, the following 25 companies would have their shares available for trading in the same day settlement mechanism: Birlasoft, Cipla, Cipla, Coforge, Hindalco Industries, Indian Hotels Company, JSW Steel, LIC Housing Finance, LTIMindtree, MRF, Nestle India, NMDC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Petronet LNG, Samvardhana Motherson International, State Bank of India, Tata Communications, Trent, Union Bank of India, and Vedanta.
TCS, Infosys, and Reliance Industries are not included in the list. The list also includes actively traded counters like Union Bank (six-month average: 19.4 lakh shares) and low-liquid counters like MRF (six-month average volume on BSE: 399 shares). It is unknown what criteria were used to choose these scrips.
In addition to the current T+1 settlement schedule, same-day settlement will serve as a test run for instant settlement, which may be implemented on an optional basis in the future. Investors will benefit from increased cost and time efficiency as well as charge transparency.
The noteworthy progression in technology, architecture, and capacity of MIIs offers prospects for augmenting clearing and settlement schedules. Furthermore, according to the Sebi circular released last week, “India’s payments and settlements ecosystem has long allowed for real-time fund transfers. Additionally, India’s depository ecosystem has visibility of individual client level holdings in digital form, allowing for the ability to effect immediate transfer of securities.”
