Commodity brokers to register after Sep 28

Brokers to transfer trade into a separate entity until Sebi completes registration process

Brokers of commodity exchanges are set to start registrations with new regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), after September 28, the date of the merger of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) and Sebi.

After September 28, trading on commodity exchanges would continue as usual. But, commodity brokers would have to create a separate entity under their broking firm till registration is complete.

Meanwhile, Sebi had announced on September 8 that it had changed rules to allow the functioning of the commodities derivatives market and its brokers.

Under the new norms, a regional commodity derivatives exchange would pay Sebi an annual regulatory fee of Rs 50,000 within 30 days of the end of the financial year.

For national commodity derivatives exchanges, the net worth for a self-clearing member would be Rs 1 crore, and for a clearing member, Rs 3 crore.

The deposit amount for a national commodity derivative exchange would be Rs 50 lakh, for both self-clearing and clearing members.

For, regional commodity derivatives exchanges, the net worth and deposit for self-clearing and clearing members would be specified.

The Sebi board had last month approved new norms for the commodities derivatives market, under which exchanges and brokers would need to comply with rules applicable to their stock market peers.

Sources say some small commodity brokers have started consolidating their units, to meet the net worth criteria.

Meanwhile, the merger of FMC with Sebi has created panic among commodity brokers. They feel uncertainty on guidelines and trading mechanism. Also, they are averse to 'strong' penal provisions for irregularities.

For membership of national exchanges and regional commodity exchanges, Rs 25,000 or Rs 5,000 and would have to be paid, respectively.