CAS Here To Stay, SEBI Analysing Feedback For Possible Improvements: Pandey

Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday made it clear that the recently introduced Closing Auction Session (CAS) framework is “here to stay”, and the capital markets regulator is analysing feedback to understand if some improvements can be made on issues faced by the stakeholders.

Pandey, however, declined to immediately specify the exact tweaks which could be made to the CAS, which came into effect from August 3 this year, and has led some participants to point out certain shortcomings, especially on social media platforms.

"'The CAS is here to stay for sure, only we will see if there are certain constraints or certain issues that we can improve, certainly we will improve," Pandey told reporters on the sidelines of an event on cybersecurity arranged at the Sebi-promoted National Institute of Securities Markets on the outskirts of the financial capital.

He maintained that Sebi cannot be reacting to every suggestion being floated or to every critique of the move which he termed as a major reform in the markets.

"We are looking at all the suggestions, I have myself seen a number of suggestions which have come from social media. Our teams have gone through it, they are discussing with the participants," the career bureaucrat-turned-regulator said, making it clear that there are a certain set of objectives which the regulator is seeking to meet.

He also said that many of the concerns can get eliminated once the participation in the CAS goes up and also added that many participants are on systems aligned to the older volume-weighted average price framework due to which they are unable to enjoy the benefits of CAS.

Pandey, who has previously maintained that frameworks similar to CAS are in use in other countries and called out India as a late adaptor, also wondered if the market participants did not put in the required efforts to understand the new framework.

"When you have something going on for years and years, they feel that change will never come. We do not put in energy into learning a new system," he said.

Pandey also spoke about the Sebi getting congratulatory messages from many stakeholders for introducing CAS.