BSE shares zoom nearly 19%, hits record high; stock has gained over 170% in 12 months

The stock gained amid reports that SEBI on Friday dismissed regulatory violations charges against the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and its seven former employees, including Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain, in a 2019 case pertaining to the co-location facility, citing the absence of sufficient evidence.

Apart from NSE, its former MDs and CEOs—Ramkrishna and Narain—Sebi has dropped charges against Anand Subramanian, Ravindra Apte, Umesh Jain, Mahesh Soparkar, and Deviprasad Singh.

The case relates to the alleged preferential access given to certain broking firms, including OPG Securities, in the form of ‘dark fibre’ at NSE to connect across the colocation facilities before other members.

The latest order came after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) directed SEBI in January 2023 to review the matter within four months.

In its order on Friday, SEBI said there is no dispute to the fact that NSE did not have a detailed, defined policy for the use of the co-location facility. It even failed to monitor the use of the secondary server by trading members without having sufficient reason.

This is a positive development for NSE, which has been planning to launch its IPO for the past several years. 

Once the IPO is over, shares of NSE would be listed on the BSE. 

In a renewed attempt to go public, the NSE, as per reports, last month filed for a 'no-objection certificate' (NOC) with the capital markets regulator Sebi's for its approval to float an initial public offering (IPO). 

Shares of BSE have given multibagger returns. In the past 12 months, the stock has jumped 173% and 1,784% over the past five years.