Sebi allows larger no of scrips for trading in SLB

Market watchdog Sebi today allowed a larger number of shares for trading in the Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) segment, which is presently confined only to derivative stocks.

The new share classes to be allowed for SLB segment include those with high liquidity or trading volumes and a decision to this effect was taken by Sebi after consultations with its Secondary Market Advisory Committee (SMAC).

Currently, only those stocks are eligible for SLB segment on which derivative contracts are available.

Sebi said in a circular that the new classes of stocks would be eligible for SLB segment with effect from July 1 and these include liquid securities (having trading frequency of at least 80 per cent).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) further said that shares with an average monthly trading turnover of Rs 100 crore or more in the previous six months would also be eligible for SLB.

Besides, shares with market-wide position limit (which indicates the investors' interest in a share) of at least Rs 100 crore would also be included for the SLB scheme.

The regulator asked stock exchanges to review the scrips eligibility for SLB on a half-yearly basis.

In case, a scrip fails to meet the eligibility criteria, no new SLB transaction would be allowed in the scrip from the next trading day. However, the existing contracts in such scrips would be allowed to continue till expiry.