Emkay flash-crash settlement allowed

Securities Appellate Tribunal has suggested that it be considered as a one-time exercise in light of 'pecularity' of case

A planned settlement between brokers involved in a flash crash that temporarily wiped out about Rs 3-lakh crore in investor wealth is finally set to go through.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal has suggested it be considered a one-time exercise in the light of the “peculiarity” of the case, according to a source. A spokesperson for the National Stock Exchange and an Emkay official confirmed the development.

The flash crash occurred when a dealer accidently entered an abnormally large sell order, which resulted in the market falling 15 per cent in seconds. The brokerage subsequently asked NSE to annul the trades but an exchange committee ruled against the move. The case was later taken up at SAT, which asked NSE to reconsider.

Meanwhile, Emkay and the counterparties to the trade attempted to settle their respective obligations through a payment of around Rs 30-35 crore. This was initially opposed but has finally been agreed to, according to the source cited above.

The stock is up 8.25 per cent, closing at Rs 55.75, even as the market had one of its worst days in the year. The BSE bellwether Sensex dropped over 654.25 points or 2.33 per cent.

"Though it may be too early to comment - as we understand, the annulment proceedings have come to an end…while, the disciplinary proceedings can continue to have a separate discourse," according to an emailed response from the NSE spokesperson. No official comment was received from Emkay.