The move follows conflict between the companies and the stock exchanges on the issue of delisting of securities, particularly from the smaller exchanges. Very often, companies approach stock exchanges for delisting of securities on the plea that investors have alternate trading facilities as trading terminals of larger exchanges in the area of operation of that stock exchanges, while small exchanges are unwilling to delist them in view of the listing fees and other charges which they earn from the companies.

This is done by the bourses despite the companies fulfilling the Chandratre norms on delisting.

Mr DR Mehta, Sebi chairman, told a press conference after a meeting with all stock exchanges that this move was taken following a suggestion on this line by National Stock Exchange managing director Ravi Narain. At present companies can get themselves mandatorily listed on the regional stock exchanges and need not go to any other exchange, like the NSE, where listing is voluntary, since NSE is not a regional exchange of any state.

Sebi also allowed listing of shares before allotment under the employee stock purchase schemes of various companies. It also allowed new listings of securities of already-listed companies directly through the depository route. In this case, the stock exchange would be electronically connected to the depository. This has been done as companies delay in making applications to the stock exchanges for listing in case of further issue of securities after allotment.

In the demat form, shares for delivery in the market have a common ISIN number which are also given for the new shares and the depository system cannot depository system cannot differentiate between old and new shares.

Stock exchanges and their subsidiaries like clearing corporations and the like would also have to mandatorily disclose their balance sheets on their websites.

The meeting also took note of the issue of selling IPOs through the secondary market route. It was decided to have not more than 25 per cent of the existing trade guarantee fund to be used for primary issues. The stock exchanges would be required to collect a minimum margin of 25 per cent of the issue price in cash. The exchanges would have the freedom to impose higher level of margins as they deem fit.

On the issue of vyaj badla shares for takeovers, the meeting took note of the subject and found that the existing exemption for this in the takeover code could remain. The general state of the stockmarkets was also discussed.

The role of bigger players like banks and institutions also needed to be encouraged, the meeting decided.

The issue of increasing delivery-based transactions on the markets was also discussed. But increasing the margins for day traders from the existing 10 per cent to 25 per cent was discussed, but was opposed by the representatives of the stock exchanges on the grounds that the volumes may drop sharply as a result. It has been observed that 90 per cent of the trading is in speculative form and it has also been seen that there has been a sharp decline in the delivery percentages on the BSE and NSE.

In the BSE A group shares, the percentage has dropped from 14.29 per cent in January 2000 to 10.07 per cent in November 2000, and on NSE the percentage of delivery has fallen drastically from 11.95 per cent to 6.36per cent during the same period. The sharp fall in delivery-based trades at NSE has been due to the introduction of automated lending and borrowing mechanism (ALBM), it has been found.