A joint proposal submitted by India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) has been approved by the statutory regulators of both nations.
Following the Modi government’s budget announcement last year that licensing data and live prices for stocks would no longer be shared with foreign exchange markets, the NSE International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)-SGX Connect was proposed as an alternative to bring together the trading of Nifty products in the Gujarat International Finance Tech City (GIFT) following months of arbitrations and legal wrangling between the NSE and SGX.
In May last year, the NSE had sued the SGX following the latter announcing plans to launch stand-alone India derivatives to compensate for the loss of the live prices from Indian stock markets.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Monetary Exchange of Singapore (MAS) had then directed the two stock exchanges to find an amicable solution to the issue, which has led to the present Connect model proposal, potentially enabling SGX and NSE IFSC members to access Nifty products in GIFT.
Vikram Limaye, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSE, said in a press conference yesterday that this was a great opportunity to build vibrant markets in GIFT City.
“We are working on varied product offerings to make GIFT City the hub of activity for all India access products across asset classes for international investors and a gateway for home investors to access international markets. Our partnership with SGX is an important step for GIFT City to realise PM Modi’s vision to be the pre-eminent financial centre serving the needs of home and international stakeholders,” he added.
SGX and NSE also stated that they would continue to work with all key stakeholders to make the proposal operational before the end of 2020 and also work towards an agreement so that related arbitration proceedings, ongoing since August 2018, would be discontinued.
“As Asia’s most international and connected multi-asset exchange, we are committed to providing our global institutional clients with open, single-point access to Asia. India is an important market for international investors and we are committed to collaborating with NSE and other stakeholders to build connectivity and access to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world,” Loh Boon Chye, Chief Executive Officer of SGX, said.