Sebi board clears one-time registration system for brokers

Seeking to simplify procedural requirements, Sebi today cleared a proposal for putting in place a one-time registration process for stock brokers and clearing entities that would allow them to operate across bourses.
The proposal, which would replace the current practice of requiring separate registration certificate to trade in each stock exchange, was discussed and approved at a meeting of Sebi board here today. The board meeting was also addressed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The new system would ensure cost efficiency, avoidance of multiple due diligence process and prevent duplication of registration process.
Under the new norms, stock brokers and clearing members would be required to have only single certificate of registration issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

The exchanges will develop the mechanism to ensure appropriate due diligence while granting approvals, coordination and sharing of information among themselves about their members.
A simple one time process in entire life time of a stock broker would help Sebi prevent duplication of registration process for each stock exchange.

The process would also decrease the number of registration applications received by Sebi and in turn help the regulator save costs and utilise the resources for better supervision and monitoring of the market intermediaries.
The new norms also have a provision for Sebi suspending brokers from the stock exchanges in case of violations.

Besides, as currently practised, the fees paid by the stock brokers would be based on their turnover on stock exchanges under the proposed norms.
In September, last year, the market regulator had introduced a common registration certificate for stock brokers to function in different market segments within a stock exchange.
Under this system, an entity is issued a certificate with a unique registration number for each stock exchange or clearing corporation, as case may be, irrespective of number of market segments.
Further, if the entity is already registered with any segment of a stock exchange then for operating in any other segment it need not apply to Sebi but can directly seek approval from the bourse or clearing corporation concerned.