After NSE, USE to impose charge on currency derivatives trade

The United Stock Exchange (USE), which has premier bourse BSE as its largest shareholder, has said it will soon take a call on imposing service charges on currency derivatives trading.

"We welcome the decision by the NSE and we will take a call on imposing charges soon. Our board will meet by the last week of this month to decide on this," USE Managing Director and Chief Executive T S Narayanaswami told PTI here.

Welcoming the NSE decision, he said charging a fee is important, otherwise it will not be business, and pointed out that everyone was doing it for free all this while, impacting the sustainability of the private players.

"The NSE decision to charge a fee should help the business. You are not in business if you don't charge a fee, but in charity," said Narayanaswami.

On August 12, the country's largest stock exchange by volume, the National Stock Exchange, had said it would start levying charges on currency derivatives trading from August 22.

The move came within two months of the Competition Commission holding the largest currency player guilty of abusing its dominant market position with subsidised and unfair pricing and slapping the NSE with Rs 50.5 crore in penalties in June.

The CCI order came pursuant to a complaint by rival privately held (Financial Technologies) exchange MCX-SX. The MCX Stock Exchange had also welcomed the decision by its rival bourse and said it was a very positive development for the currency derivatives market.

The NSE had been claiming that it waived the charges for the benefit of the market and the consumers and all market players -- including exchanges, members and consumers -- have benefited from the move and it would challenge the CCI order.

When asked if the broking community will take such a decision kindly, Narayanaswami said, "By and large, the brokers should accept as long as they have liquidity. Frankly speaking, I don't expect any protest from the brokers."

Whether he sees any price war in the wake of the NSE move, he said: "I won't be surprised if there is price competition."

But he refused to comment on whether he would charge less than the rival NSE.