StanChart buys 3% in USE

Standard Chartered Bank (Mauritius) Ltd has picked up a 3 per cent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange-promoted currency exchange, United Stock Exchange (USE). It is the first foreign bank to buy a stake in USE, which is co-promoted by 21 public sector banks, two public sector units and six leading private sector banks.

USE currently operates in the currency derivatives space and offers currency futures in all the four currency pairs permitted by Sebi and is one of the only two stock exchanges in the country to offer currency options in the USD-INR currency pair. The exchange already boasts of an illustrious list of shareholders comprised of 21 corporate institutions, including the Bombay Stock Exchange.

T S Narayanasami, Managing Director & CEO, United Stock Exchange, said, “This investment perhaps reflects the perception of a top bank as to the good prospects of USE in the time to come.

USE, in which BSE holds 15 per cent stake, is a direct competitor to MCX SX, promoted by the FT group.”