NSE offers $160 mn to settle dispute with Sebi, move ahead with IPO

The National Stock Exchange of India has offered to pay the country's markets regulator Rs 13.88 billion ($160 million) to settle a legal dispute so it can proceed with a long-delayed initial public offering, three sources said.

The sum is set to be largest settlement made with the markets regulator in India's history.

India's biggest bourse and the world's most active derivatives exchange has been embroiled in litigation with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) since 2019 when it was fined 11 billion rupees for failing to provide equitable access to all its trading members.

They are negotiating an out-of-court settlement, according to two of the sources.

All three sources, who have direct knowledge of the discussions, were not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified. 

The regulator is likely to grant the exchange a certificate stating it has no objection to an IPO within three months, said one source.

"If all goes as per expected timelines, NSE's IPO could hit the markets before May next year," said another source.

NSE declined to comment. Sebi did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

The cash-rich Mumbai-headquarted NSE has been trying to list since 2016 to enable some of its biggest investors to exit.

But has been prevented by the regulator's investigations and then the fine. NSE challenged the penalty in court which ordered certain parts of Sebi's order to be set aside, which the regulator later appealed at the nation's top court.

Among NSE's largest investors are the Life Insurance Corporation of India with a 10.72 per cent stake and the State Bank of India with 7.76 per cent, while Morgan Stanley owns 1.58 per cent and the Canada Pension Investment Plan Board has 1.60 per cent.

Its main domestic rival, BSE Ltd, listed in 2017.

Sebi is conducting an inspection of the exchange's systems and processes before the no-objection certificate is issued, said two of the sources.

Sebi wrote to the NSE in February flagging concerns about the bourse's internal processes, including how management is appointed and remunerated, its failure to appoint a chairperson and technology shortfalls.

The settlement, if accepted by the regulator, will need the approval of India's top court, two of the sources said.