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Govt gives free hand to Sebi for measures to cool markets

The government said on Friday that it was for the Securities and Exchange Board of India to take a final decision on implementing rolling settlement on all actively traded scrips from July 2 and withdrawing the ban on short sales.

"Sebi is considering it (the ban on carry forward of trade and implementing rolling settlement). It is for the Sebi to take a stance," Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of an award ceremony in New Delhi on Friday.

Sinha had a detailed meeting with Sebi chairman, D R Mehta, earlier in the day on the eve of the Sebi board meeting in Bombay on Saturday.

Mehta also met finance secretary Ajit Kumar to discuss the measures for streamlining the country's capital market.

"Yes, a decision is expected to be taken tomorrow at the board meeting. I am not saying anything. It is for the board to take a decision," he told reporters when asked whether Sebi would ban carry forward trading from July 2 as recommended by its panel.

But there are indications that Sebi would implement all the measures it had announced in the last few weeks, including the withdrawal of the ban on short sales and going ahead with rolling settlement instead of the popular old badla system that had spurred speculations in the bourses.

A Sebi panel had recommended banning carry-forward trading to contain volatility in the stock markets. But at the same time, it is feared that such a ban could affect the markets due to the liquidity crunch.

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