FMC caps all stakes in commodity bourses

The government today said no single stock exchange can hold more than a five per cent stake in any national commodity exchange. And, in an amendment to the existing guidelines, the combined shareholding of all these stock exchanges in any national commodity exchange (NCE) is to be capped at 10 per cent.

Also, any single commodity exchange, along with persons acting in concert, cannot hold more than 15 per cent stake in an NCE. In addition, the cumulative shareholding of stock or commodity exchanges, along with those of persons acting in concert, cannot exceed 20 per cent in an NCE.

As a result of the new rules, the National Stock Exchange will have to bring down its stake in the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) to five per cent from the existing 15 per cent.

The new guidelines, placed on the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) website, have given stock exchanges time till December to comply with the new norms. The deadline could be extended by FMC for another three months (till March 2011) in exceptional cases, on genuine grounds.

The new norms will apply to the existing as well as new commodity bourses. At present, the Ketan Seth-led consortium’s application to start a new commodity bourse is with the FMC.