SEBI proposes unified trading rulebook to simplify rules, cuts compliance burden

Mumbai, Jan 10 Markets regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of trading‑related rules at stock exchanges to consolidate overlapping provisions and ease compliance for market participants.

The consultation paper recommended merging overlapping provisions on trading, price bands, circuit breakers, bulk and block deal disclosures, call auctions and liquidity enhancement schemes, according to an official statement.

The regulator proposed a total of 54 changes which include merging rules covering both equity and commodity segments into a single framework. The merging involves provisions on margin trading facility (MTF), unique client codes, PAN requirements, trading hours and daily price limits.

"Disclosure related provisions for bulk deals and block deals may be merged together. Further clarity may be provided on bulk deal disclosure, i.e. bulk deal information be disseminated by exchanges at client level (i.e. at PAN level) executed across members," the statement said.

Provisions applicable to clearing corporations should be separated into a dedicated master circular to avoid regulatory overlap, the regulator said.

"Penalty levied by Exchanges and Clearing Corporations should be uniform for modification of client codes and OTR allocations," the statement added.

It proposed merging bulk and block deal disclosures and shifting dissemination to the client PAN level instead of the UCC level to reduce manual reporting by brokers, and thereby improving transparency.

Presenting market‑wide circuit breaker rules, dynamic price band flexing, IPO price bands and call auction procedures in tabular form with duplicative operational examples removed were among the other revisions proposed.

Overall, the rules aim at simplification of regulatory requirements, removal of redundant provisions and discontinuation of duplication -- in order to promote ease of doing business (EODB) and reduce the compliance burden on exchanges.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier announced simplifying, easing and reducing cost of compliance for participants in the financial sector through a consultative process.

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