The first step towards introduction of derivatives trading in India was the promulgation of the Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 1995, which withdrew the prohibition on options in securities. The market for derivatives, however, did not take off, as there was no regulatory framework to govern trading of derivatives. SEBI set up a 24-member committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. L. C. Gupta on November 18, 1996 to develop appropriate regulatory framework for derivatives trading in India.
The committee submitted its report on March 17, 1998 prescribing necessary pre-conditions for introduction of derivatives trading in India.
The committee recommended that derivatives should be declared as ‘securities’ so that regulatory framework applicable to trading of ‘securities’ could also govern trading of securities. SEBI also set up a group in June 1998 under the Chairmanship of Prof. J. R. Varma, to recommend measures for risk containment in derivatives market in India. The report, which was submitted in October 1998, worked out the operational details of margining system, methodology for charging initial margins, broker net worth, deposit requirement and real-time monitoring requirements.
The Securities Contract Regulation Act (SCRA) was amended in December 1999 to include derivatives within the ambit of ‘securities’ and the regulatory framework was developed for governing derivatives trading. The act also made it clear that derivatives shall be legal and valid only if such contracts are traded on a recognized stock exchange, thus precluding OTC derivatives. The government also rescinded in March 2000, the three decade old notification, which prohibited forward trading in securities. Derivatives trading commenced in India in June 2000 after SEBI granted the final approval to this effect in May 2001.
SEBI permitted the derivative segments of two stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, and their clearing house/corporation to commence trading and settlement in approved derivatives contracts. To begin with, SEBI approved trading in index futures contracts based on S&P CNX Nifty and BSE-30 (Sense) index. This was followed by approval for trading in options based on these two indexes and options on individual securities. The trading in BSE Sensex options commenced on June 4, 2001 and the trading in options on individual securities commenced in July 2001. Futures contracts on individual stocks were launched in November 2001.
The derivatives trading on NSE commenced with S&P CNX Nifty Index futures on June 12, 2000. The trading in index options commenced on June 4, 2001 and trading in options on individual securities commenced on July 2, 2001. Single stock futures were launched on November 9, 2001. The index futures and options contract on NSE are based on S&P CNX Trading and settlement in derivative contracts is done in accordance with the rules, byelaws, and regulations of the respective exchanges and their clearing house/corporation duly approved by SEBI and notified in the official gazette.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) are permitted to trade in all Exchange traded derivative products. A price is what one pays to acquire or use something of value. The objects having value maybe commodities, local currency or foreign currencies. The concept of price is clear to almost everybody when we discuss commodities. There is a price to be paid for the purchase of food grain, oil, petrol, metal, etc. the price one pays for use of a unit of another persons money is called interest rate. And the price one pays in one’s own currency for a unit of another currency is called as an exchange rate.
Prices are generally determined by market forces. In a market, consumers have ‘demand’ and producers or suppliers have ‘supply’, and the collective interaction of demand and supply in the market determines the price. These factors are constantly interacting in the market causing changes in the price over a short period of time. Such changes in the price is known as ‘price volatility’. This has three factors : the speed of price changes, the frequency of price changes and the magnitude of price changes. The changes in demand and supply influencing factors culminate in market adjustments through price changes.
These price changes expose individuals, producing firms and governments to significant risks. The break down of the BRETTON WOODS agreement brought and end to the stabilising role of fixed exchange rates and the gold convertibility of the dollars. The globalisation of the markets and rapid industrialisation of many underdeveloped countries brought a new scale and dimension to the markets. Nations that were poor suddenly became a major source of supply of goods. The Mexican crisis in the south east-Asian currency crisis of 1990’s have also brought the price volatility factor on the surface.
The advent of telecommunication and data processing bought information very quickly to the markets. Information which would have taken months to impact the market earlier can now be obtained in matter of moments. Even equity holders are exposed to price risk of corporate share fluctuates rapidly. These price volatility risk pushed the use of derivatives like futures and options increasingly as these instruments can be used as hedge to protect against adverse price changes in commodity, foreign exchange, equity shares and bonds.
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