SEBI plans to introduce same day trade settlement by March 2024

Mumbai: Capital markets regulator SEBI aims to introduce same-day settlement of trades on stock exchanges by March 2024 and eventually have real time settlement, its Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said on Saturday. Already, the watchdog reduced the settlement timelines to as short as one day.

“SEBI wants the T plus zero (T+0) settlement norm to be in place from March-end 2024 and T plus instantaneous settlement 12 months from thereon,” Buch told reporters here after the regulator’s board meeting.

T+0 refers to the same-day settlement of trades and instantaneous settlement means settling the transactions on a real time basis.

According to Buch, market markers are of the view that it makes better sense to move directly from T+1 hour to T+instantaneous as there is no benefit to be drawn from the middle ground which is T+0.

The investment banker-turned-regulator said that Sebi is ‘fully open’ to the suggestions made by the market makers on instantaneous settlement of trades.

She said that the new settlement will be parallel to the existing settlement system and will fully be optional.