Cochin Stock Exchange president Chacko J Kallivayalil told The Financial Express here on Monday that the governing body of the ISE, which met at on May 1 at its headquarters, near Mumbai, unanimously approved the proposal mooted by the Cochin Stock Exchange (CSE) for setting up ISE terminals abroad. According to the proposal, ISE will set up trading terminals in such places where the incidence of NRI population is high. CSE is one of the steering committee members of the ISE which is positioned as the second national exchange in the country after the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The ISE move comes close on the heels ofthe Union finance ministry's decision to allow stock exchanges to set up trading terminals abroad. The proposal is estimated to cost Rs 40 lakh for the leased line besides the hidden cost involved in setting up terminals. The proposal has listed a number of advantages for ISE to set up trading centres abroad. Topping the list of positives is the superior demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) technology being used by the ISE. This technology allows instant access to any number of brokers at a single time compared to the time division multiple access (TDMA) technology which restricts the number of users at a single point of time used by NSE and BSE.

The ISE terminals will also permit cost-sharing since traders in all the 15 member bourses have to bear the investment cost equally, which should lessen the financial burden on individual brokers substantially, the CSE president said. Sources also said the governing body of the interconnected exchange had decided to appoint MR Mayya as the chairman of thebourse. Mayya, who was the former executive director of BSE, is considered a major force behind the concept of an interconnected stock exchange consisting of all regional exchanges in the country.