MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE INSTITUTION (MII)

Feb. 27, 2022

The National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country's largest equities and derivatives exchange, was earlier this month fined for laxity in governance pertaining to actions taken during the tenure of its former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna.

About:

  • Markets regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) in its order noted that the NSE was a systemically important market infrastructure institution (MII).

  • A panel set up under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan — to examine issues in MIIs — in its 2010 report said: “The term ‘market infrastructure’ denotes such fundamental facilities and systems serving this market.

  • Stock exchanges, depositories and clearing houses are all Market Infrastructure Institutions and constitute a key part of the nation's vital economic infrastructure.

What are the specific institutions in India that qualify as MIIs?

  • Among stock exchanges, the SEBI lists seven, including the BSE, the NSE, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India.

  • There are two depositories — charged with the safekeeping of securities and enabling their trading and transfer — that are tagged MIIs: the Central Depository Services Ltd. and the National Securities Depository Ltd.

  • The regulator also lists seven clearing houses including the Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing Corporation. Clearing houses, for their part, help validate and finalise securities trades and ensure that both buyers and sellers honour their obligations.

Source : The Hindu