Electronic trading: The NSE trump card that changed stock market dynamics

Electronic trading helped cut out unknown middlemen and unnecessary commissions, even as the exchange opened doors to many who had worked under big brokers

In the 80s, one of the unique selling propositions of Motilal Oswal Financial Services was its ability to facilitate arbitrage trades between exchanges in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. For a time, one of co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal’s tasks was to relay price information on stocks listed in Mumbai to his clients in Ahmedabad. 

“We used to buy shares in the spot market in Ahmedabad and sell them in the regular market in Mumbai. The price quoted in the trading ring in Mumbai was not immediately known in Ahmedabad because of the lag in communication, and my clients made a percentage or two