The committee has also decided to reduce the existing threshold limit for levying margins to Rs 1 crore for gross exposure and Rs 50 lakh for net exposure from Rs 2.5 crore and made it mandatory for brokers to collect upfront the margin money from clients.

The meeting was attended by members of the Mumbai, National, Calcutta and Delhi stock exchanges apart from the other exchanges which are a part of the inter-exchange coordination group and the inter-market surveillance group.

The committee has decided that disclosures of daily gross outstanding positions at the client level (without netting the purchases of one client with the sales of the other for the samestock) have to be made by the brokers to the exchanges on a daily basis.

The committee has mentioned that for the purpose of disclosures, inter-client netting of outstanding positions on the same stock will not be permitted.

The committee has also decided that there would be no change for any exchange where the existing limits are lower than the prescribed limits. The panel also said that it will be mandatory for brokers to collect upfront the margin from the client in all cases where the margin in respect each client in a settlement would work out to be more than Rs 50,000. The margin so collected shall be kept separately in the client bank account and utilised only for making payments to the clearing house for margins and settlement.

"Various issues relating to the regulation of short sales were discussed. The BSE and others made presentations on the current position and practices in the market related to short sales. Several suggestions were discussed by all the exchanges for short sales and longpurchases," said a member of the committee.

The panel would be inviting further comments from exchanges on the issue. The committee would also be considering suggestions related to the regulation of short sales at the next meeting which will be held in the last week of December.