MUMBAI: Markets regulator Sebi has decided to expand the list of stocks for the optional T+0 mode of trading & settlement to include 500 more from Jan 31. Currently, the T+0 settlement cycle is offered for 25 select stocks that include SBI, ONGC and Bajaj Auto. The mechanism was started in March this year.
A Sebi circular said that as a first step, top 500 stocks will be selected according to market capitalisation on Dec 31. In the first phase, the T+0 settlement will be available in the last 100 stocks of the 500 selected. In each month thereafter, the next bottom 100 stocks will be added to the list, it said. The process would start on Jan 31, 2025.
Under the T+0 (same day) settlement system, investors will get their stocks and funds at the end of the day they put in their trades. India is the first country to move into such a stock trading process.
Globally, and in India too, the more prevalent mode of settlement is the T+1 process. Under the T+1 settlement system, buyers and sellers of stocks get them in their demat accounts and the money in their bank accounts a day after the day of trade.
On Tuesday, Sebi said that all brokers would be allowed to offer the T+0 settlement system to their clients. From May 2025, even custodians, who serve large investors including institutional ones, would join the system and block trades would be offered under this process too.
Sebi has asked qualified stock brokers with a minimum number of active clients as of Dec 31, 2024 to put in place systems so that their clients can participate in the T+0 settlement cycle. New QSBs will get three months to put in systems compliant with the T+0 process, it said.
The regulator has also asked stock exchanges, clearing corporations, depositories and custodians to work on systems so that institutional investors can participate in this shorter mode of settlement.
Earlier, Sebi had said that once the T+0 mode of settlement is fully implemented, it would move to an instant settlement mode.
