NSE IPO To Hit The Market Before Year-End, Says Chairman Ashok Chawla
NSE in the process of settling some legacy issues with SEBI ahead of its IPO.
National Stock Exchange (NSE) is in the process of "settling fully and finally" with SEBI, some legacy issues after which its IPO should hit the market before year-end, Chairman Ashok Chawla said on Monday amid an ongoing probe into alleged lapses relating to its algo trading and co-location facility.
The country's leading stock exchange is under the regulatory scanner and regulators have intensified their probe while the role of some top officials is also being looked into by the SEBI.
When asked about the initial share sale, Chawla said the exchange is totally committed to it.
"We have some legacy issues which we are in the process of settling fully and finally with SEBI. Once that is through, we will back in the space for the IPO and I have little doubt that we should be able to accomplish it well before the end of this calendar year,” Chawla said in an interview to ET Now.
In December 2016, the NSE filed the draft papers for the IPO, estimated to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore, and SEBI has also sought certain clarifications from the board.
The SEBI has issued show-cause notices to the exchange and several top executives as well as to some former top management personnel.
The case relates to some brokers allegedly getting preferential access through co-location facility at NSE, early login and 'dark fiber' -- which can allow a trader a split- second faster access to data feed of an exchange. Even a split-second faster access is considered to result in huge gains for a trader.
Last week, NSE vice-chairman and former chief executive officer Ravi Narain had stepped down.