More than 3,300 stocks to be traded under rolling mode by February ’02

Our Markets Bureau

Mumbai, Jan 3: The capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has chalked out an ambitious plan for stocks of companies who have not yet established connectivity with both the depositories under normal rolling settlement. It plans to shift additional 104 stocks of these companies at the end of February 2002 under this trading mode.

In a communication to all the stock exchanges and both the depositories —National Security Depositories Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL)— last week, the regulator has informed that around 3,244 stocks which established connectivity as on September 30, 2001, will be traded in the normal rolling settlement mode with effect from December 31, 2001.

Those companies which have established connectivity with both the depositories later than September 30, but as on October 31, 2001 and November 30, 2001 will be moved into the normal rolling settlement mode from ‘trade for trade’ settlement window of the exchange with effect from January 31, 2002 and February 28, 2002 respectively.

This means, from January 31, 2002, additional 60 stocks and from February 28, 2002, additional 44 stocks, will be added in the normal rolling settlement mode. This will take the total number of stocks traded under this trading mode at the end of February 2002 at 3,350.

The regulator had earlier decided to move all the stocks listed at the stock exchanges to normal rolling settlement mode from January 1, 2002 and scrap the weekly settlement mode. The stocks of those companies which have failed to establish connectivity with both the depositories, were to be shifted to trade for trade rolling settlement. Once these compaies establish connectivity with both the depositories, Sebi said that these stocks can be shifted to normal rolling settlement as per the procedure laid down by it.

According to market observers, the regulator wants to shift maximum number of stocks under normal rolling settlement so that it does not create any road blocks in its plan to shorten the trading cycle from the present T+5 to T+3 system which it wants to implement from April 2002.