

Brokers' forum seeks RBI relaxation on proprietary trade funding curbs
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Representatives of the Association of NSE Members of India (ANMI) met with central bank officials on Wednesday, seeking a relaxation of an imminent regulatory restriction on lenders funding capital market proprietary traders, arguing that not all such trades are speculative, according to a person aware of the discussions.While Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials heard out the ANMI delegation, they offered no commitment , he said, requesting anonymity.While confirming the meeting, an ANMI official said, "A lot of things get discussed. It's unfair to be point-wise and specific about what is discussed or not." "With due respect, everything discussed in a closed room is not open to transmission everywhere," the official added.The meeting, requested for by the brokers' body, came after the central bank on 30 March deferred its 13 February circular on banks' capital markets exposure for three months through 1 July.
Proprietary traders are brokers who trade for themselves. Other market participants include retail/high networth investors (HNIs), foreign investors and domestic institutional investors.The brokers clarified to the RBI that proprietary traders don't speculate, but impart liquidity to the markets by offering two-way quotes -- a buy quote for sellers, and a sell quote for buyers.
This is akin to market-making, which doesn't face a funding bar from banks."Another activity spoken about was that proprietary traders undertake spread trades, which are offsetting by nature and thus defined as 'hedges' that aren't not speculative or volatility-inducing in nature. RBI heard this argument, but said it was not for them to get into definitions such as these; rather this was for Sebi
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