INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
concerns over their readiness and the costs of implementing the proposal, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Local and
foreign brokers have asked the Securities Exchange Board of India to postpone until January its plan to introduce longer trading hours,
citing the need for more testing, the people said
They also discussed extending trading till 5 p.m., a shorter day than the 11:55 p.m
close that Sebi had said it would allow, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.
India is trying
to woo foreign investors across different time zones to trade onshore after a fight between the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd
and the Singapore Exchange Ltd
left investors looking for new ways to manage their exposure to Indian stocks
The dispute between the two exchanges over derivatives contracts broke into the open in February after the NSE said it was axing licensing
agreements with overseas bourses.
While the regulator wants to start the new trading hours on Oct
1, brokers told it that they need at least six to eight weeks to complete testing, the people said, adding that after-hours trading exposes
systems to more risk as volume and liquidity may be thin in the first few months.
Brokers want derivatives trading to run only 90 minutes
longer than the current 3:30 p.m
least initially, the people said
Indian rules prevent global brokers from trading derivatives from their offshore desks in Europe and the United States after the local cash
market shuts, the people said.
Local and global brokers informed Sebi about their concerns over the extended trading hours at a meeting
earlier this week, in which the regulator asked them to submit their final responses by the end of Friday, the people said.
A spokesman for
hours in May, bringing it in line with commodities trading, which already runs until 11:55 p.m.
