Close to clearing NSE IPO: Sebi Chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India is close to approving the initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the regulator's chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said Thursday. The share sale is likely to be the largest in the country to date.

NSE's valuation in the unlisted market is around ₹5 lakh crore, potentially catapulting it to India's top-ten market capitalization leader-board on listing, based on current prices.

With a 6% stake sale, the estimated IPO size is close to ₹30,000 crore.


Read more: NSE IPO coming soon: Should investors buy unlisted shares now or wait for the mega issue?

The regulator said it is yet to decide on allowing NSE's shares to trade on its own platform after the public offering.

"We have not thought about it. It is something we need to assess properly. It may take time," Pandey said on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai. "We cannot discuss about it at the moment as we have to apply our minds to it."

In June, the exchange filed its draft prospectus for an offering that will consist entirely of secondary share sales. Existing shareholders plan to sell as many as 148.9 million shares, according to the filing. State Bank of India, MS Strategic (Mauritius) Limited, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited, General Insurance Corporation of India, The New India Assurance Company Ltd., National Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited are among the selling shareholders in the offer for sale.

Last month, Sebi agreed to settle every outstanding case against the bourse - the largest such settlement by any entity to date.

Sebi informed the NSE that it would settle all pending matters, including the co-location and dark fibre cases that have dogged the exchange for years, for ₹1,491.21 crore.

Separately, the Sebi chairman also clarified the regulator isn't looking at making changes to its new closing auction system (CAS).

"We are not looking at any changes right now. And the system is running as it is. Participation will increase. And brokers will enable it in their apps. And people will learn and will come to this market," Pandey said.

The regulator is also examining a proposal to rationalise margin requirements for subsequent buy or sell transactions after an investor has made an early pay-in of securities in the cash market.

He added that it is planning to formulate a standard operating procedure for settlement related activities on unscheduled holidays.

"To enhance operational efficiency, we have recently proposed to rationalize settlement, margin and risk-management provisions for clearing corporations," Pandey said.

"We are working to rationalize certain periodic filings and simplify the processes even further," he said.