The committee which comprised representatives of the Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Ludhiana and National stock exchanges focussed on three crucial aspects -- safety of the market, containment of volatility and determining a trigger point for imposing margins and restoring equilibrium in the markets.

The group has also decided to impose `graded margins' which would ensure that an exit point is available to a broker and to help curb volatility in the markets.

"We have decided not to disturb the existing margin system. However, additional margins will be imposed to check the volatility in the market," said LK Singhvi, senior executive director of Sebi. "The margin system will make it expensiveto either build excessive positions or sell," said Singhvi. Speaking on the graded margin system, Singhvi highlighted the cost factor which a broker (both bull and bear) will have to bear in order to avail of the benefits of an exit point.

"Trading with additional margin, given the cost factor, will enable us to ensure market safety," he explained. The committee, which is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday to finalise the finer details of the margin package, will also discuss the issues related to modifying the intra-day and intra-settlement price bands.

According to sources, the committee is likely to finalise the basis for the graded margins to be imposed shortly, in the light of the presence of concentrated and mark-to-market margins.

"We have to learn from the mistakes we have committed in the past and try to rectify the same before the exchanges face another financial crisis," said a source.

The discussions also highlighted the current turmoil at the exchanges on account of the failure to cutdown the bear operations which saw the counters of Videocon International and BPL attract settlement filters on both the exchanges. The committee has also decided to switch over to common trading timings before deciding on a uniform settlement cycle.