MUMBAI, Feb 8: Foreign nationals or entities seeking membership on the world's first international castor oil futures exchange will have to shell out a minimum of Rs 16.5 lakh to the Bombay Oilseeds & Oils Exchange (BOOE).This is almost twice as much as what local aspirants are expected to pay for membership of the exchange's international segment.
The board of the exchange, which recently approved the rules and regulations for the launch of the international futures trading wing, has decided that the members, both Indian and foreign, will have to pay a five per cent trading margin on sale and purchase value of contracts (of 5 tonnes each).
Margins will have to be paid before the opening of market on the following working day after the contract is entered into.
The trading members will have to maintain a 10 per cent margin on the value of contract for all open positions. The BOOE had in December last received clearance for trading in international castor futures from the Forward Market Commission(FMC). The exchange is now preparing to kick off in a few months' time the world's first international castor futures exchange within its premises at Vashi (Navi Mumbai). The international exchange will be a separate segment on the BOE premises. ``We will soon be holding an international seminar for global castor and other oil trading majors and consumers and invite them to join our exchange,'' said Navinchandra Shah, president, BOE. ``Recently, we had held a similar seminar at Ahmedabad for the Indian castor oil trading community.
According to Shah, a foreign national intending to trade on the international segment of BOE is expected to contribute as under (all in Indian currency after getting clearance from the Reserve Bank of India):
Rs 5 lakh as admission fee; J Rs 50,000 as exchange deposit;
Rs 1 lakh as eligibility fee to trade on the international segement, which will also serve as security deposit;
Rs 8 lakh (minimum) towards contribution of equity capital of Prime CommoditiesCorporation of India (PCCI), the independent clearing corporation set up recently with an authorised equity capital of Rs 5 crore;
Rs 2 lakh towards PCCI's security deposit.Against this, Indian nationals can get membership on BOE's international wing by paying a total of Rs 7.50 lakh, of which Rs 4 lakh (minimum) will be towards equity on PCCI; Rs 1 lakh each towards admission fee, trading eligibility fee, and deposit for the PCCI, and Rs 50,000 for exchange's deposit. The maximum level for contributing towards equity of PCCI is Rs 20 lakh for both Indian and international members.
Members' trading limits have been fixed at 50 times their capital (on intra-day trading position), and 30 times of the additional amount of initial (security deposit) margin (also on intra-day trading position).
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
