NSE, SGX resume talks to collaborate at international finance hub in Gujarat

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) and India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) said on Wednesday they had resumed talks on a potential collaboration at an international financial centre in Gujarat.

The announcement comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two exchanges after Indian bourses, including NSE, said in February they would stop licensing their indexes to foreign bourses from August.

SGX responded saying it would launch successor products to its flagship Indian equity derivative products from June.

An Indian court, however, in May referred the dispute around the proposed offerings to an arbitrator, who asked SGX to continue listing and trading SGX Nifty contracts beyond August, and barred it from offering its proposed new products until a final decision.

On Wednesday, SGX and NSE said in a joint statement the arbitrator had granted a deferment of arbitration proceedings pending the outcome of the discussion on collaboration at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City.

"SGX and NSE will jointly engage and consult relevant stakeholders on the proposed collaboration," they said in the statement, adding the directions under the arbitration order would remain effective.

NSE and SGX had been evaluating a joint trading and clearing model in GIFT City, but talks failed to materialise.

Separately on Wednesday, market regulators Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said they had held discussion on various issues, including an "amicable resolution" of the NSE and SGX issue.

"Both regulators also agreed that NSE and SGX would carry out necessary discussions to come up with a solution that is acceptable to both the parties," they said in a joint statement.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy; editing by David Evans)