NSE INDICIES

India Index Services & Products Ltd. (IISL)

India Index Services & Products Ltd. (IISL) is a joint venture between the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) and CRISIL Ltd. (formerly the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited). IISL has been formed with the objective of providing a variety of indices and index related services and products for the capital markets.

IISL has a consulting and licensing agreement with Standard and Poor's (S&P), the world's leading provider of investible equity indices, for co-branding IISL's equity indices.

IISL - Products & Services

IISL offers a wide range of products and services which are key support tools for the equity markets. We provide reliable, accurate and valuable data on indices and index related services to cater to the needs of various segments of users. Our speciality is indices based on Indian equity markets, which may be used for benchmarking, trading or research. Use of IISL data or name or indices requires a license or subscription.

Financial products on IISL Indices

IISL maintains, develops, compiles and disseminates entire gamut of equity indices. Licensing is mandatory for tracking the performance of an IISL Index. Licensing is also required for use of the name of IISL or S&P CNX or CNX or any IISL Index. Fees for licensing would vary according to the type of the product and the period.

Major Indices

S&P CNX Nifty

  CNX Nifty Junior

CNX 100

S&P CNX 500

CNX Midcap

Nifty Midcap 50

S&P CNX Defty

Other Indices

CNX Energy Index

CNX IT Index 

CNX FMCG Index

CNX Bank Index

CNX Pharma Index

  CNX Infrastructure Index

   CNX PSU BANK Index

 CNX Realty Index

CNX Service Sector Index   

S&P CNX Industry Indices

Customised Indices

  S&P CNX Nifty Shariah / S&P CNX 500 Shariah

   S&P ESG India Index

CNX MNC Index

CNX PSE Index

CNX ensures common branding of indices, to reflect the identities of both the promoters, i.e. NSE and CRISIL. Thus, 'C' stands for CRISIL, 'N' stands for NSE . The S&P prefix belongs to the US-based Standard & Poor's Financial Information Services.

CNX indices are useful for fund managers, corporates, brokers and all such enterprises connected with investments in the equity markets. These indices can be used for tracking the markets, understanding the performance of a company vis-a-vis the market, determining how an investors portfolio is performing as compared to the market, trading derivative products and most importantly for development of index based funds by mutual funds.

Data subscription

IISL provides index data on a daily, weekly or ad-hoc basis through preferred method. Data includes Index values, index constituents, historical growth trends etc. This is a paid service and the subscription charges vary depending upon the type of data sought and the period.

Customized Indices

IISL undertakes development & maintenance of customized indices for clients for tracking the performance of the client portfolio of stocks vis-à-vis objectively defined benchmarks, or for benchmarking NAV performance to customized indices. The customized indices can be sub-sets of existing indices or a completely new index viz. Sector Indices, Individual Business Group Indices, Industry Indices etc. Charges for this service vary depending on the activity performed by IISL.

Consulting

IISL provides consulting services in areas of Index Funds, Exchange-traded-fund, derivatives, Index options, alerting for rebalancing for index funds etc. This is a paid service.

Market Updates

IISL provides to specialized clients facts and figures, reports and equity market updates on regular intervals. This is a paid service.

Research

IISL undertakes research activities for its clients on matters concerning equity and derivative markets.

STOCK EQUITIES AND DEBENTURES

STOCK MARKET 

EQUITIES

Listing

Listing means admission of securities of an issuer to trading privileges on a stock exchange through a formal agreement. The prime objective of admission to dealings on the Exchange is to provide liquidity and marketability to securities, as also to provide a mechanism for effective management of trading.

Listing on NSE provides qualifying companies with the broadest access to investors, the greatest market depth and liquidity, cost-effective access to capital, the highest visibility, the fairest pricing, and investor benefits. NSE trading terminals are now situated in various cities and towns across the length and breath of India.

Securities listed on the Exchange are required to fulfill the eligibility criteria for listing. Various types of securities of a company are traded under a unique symbol and different series.

Trading

NSE introduced for the first time in India, fully automated screen based trading. It uses a modern, fully computerised trading system designed to offer investors across the length and breadth of the country a safe and easy way to invest.

The NSE trading system called 'National Exchange for Automated Trading' (NEAT) is a fully automated screen based trading system, which adopts the principle of an order driven market.

Clearing & Settlement (Equities)

NSCCL carries out clearing and settlement functions as per the settlement cycles of different sub-segments in the Equities segment.

The clearing function of the clearing corporation is designed to work out a) what counter parties owe and b) what counter parties are due to receive on the settlement date. Settlement is a two way process which involves legal transfer of title to funds and securities or other assets on the settlement date.

NSCCL has also devised mechanism to handle various exceptional situations like security shortages, bad delivery, company objections, auction settlement etc.

Clearing & Settlement (Derivatives)

National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited (NSCCL) is the clearing and settlement agency for all deals executed on the Derivatives (Futures & Options) segment. NSCCL acts as legal counter-party to all deals on NSE's F&O segment and guarantees settlement.

A Clearing Member (CM) of NSCCL has the responsibility of clearing and settlement of all deals executed by Trading Members (TM) on NSE, who clear and settle such deals through them.

DEBENTURES

Listing

All Government securities and Treasury bills are deemed to be listed automatically as and when they are issued. Other securities, issued publicly or placed privately, could be listed or admitted for trading, if eligible, as per rules of the Exchange by following prescribed procedure.

Certain securities like Treasury Bills and other securities issued by Government of India and certain Corporate and PSU debt securities available in demat form are eligible for Repo. Every security in the trading system is given a symbol representative of the security.

The market capitalisation of the securities on the WDM segment has been increasing steadily. The segment has also seen a marked increase in the number of securities available for trading other than the traditional instruments like Govt. securities and T-bills. 

Settlement

Settlement is on a rolling basis, i.e. there is no account period settlement. Each order has a unique settlement date specified upfront at the time of order entry and used as a matching parameter. It is mandatory for trades to be settled on the predefined settlement date. The Exchange currently allows settlement periods ranging from same day (T+0) settlement to a maximum of (T+2) for non-government securities while settlement of all outright secondary market transactions in government securities was standardized to T+1. In case of repo transactions in government securities, first leg can be settled either on T+0 basis or T+1 basis. The above guidelines came into effect from May 24, 2005.(Refer Circular no: NSE/WDM/6313)

In case of government securities, the actual settlement of funds and securities are effected directly between participants or through Reserve Bank of India (RBI). All trades in government securities are reported to RBI-SGL through the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS) of RBI, and Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) provides settlement guarantee for transactions in government securities including repos. The trades are settled on a net basis through the DvP-III system. In the DvP-III, the settlement of Securities and Funds are carried out on a net basis.

For securities other than government securities and T-bills, trades are settled on a gross basis directly between participants on delivery versus payment basis.

On the scheduled settlement date, the Exchange provides data/information to the respective member/participant regarding trades to be settled on that day with details like security, counter party and consideration.

The settlement details for non-government securities, i.e. certificate no., Cheque no., constituent etc. are reported by the member/participant to the Exchange.

The Exchange closely monitors the settlement of transactions through the reporting of settlement details by members and participants. In case of deferment of settlement or cancellation of trade, participants are required to seek prior approval from the Exchange. For any dispute arising in respect of the trades or settlement, the exchange has established arbitration mechanism for resolving the same.

NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE

NATIONAL STOCK EXCHANGE

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is India's leading stock exchange covering various cities and towns across the country. NSE was set up by leading institutions to provide a modern, fully automated screen-based trading system with national reach. The Exchange has brought about unparalleled transparency, speed & efficiency, safety and market integrity. It has set up facilities that serve as a model for the securities industry in terms of systems, practices and procedures. 

NSE has played a catalytic role in reforming the Indian securities market in terms of microstructure, market practices and trading volumes. The market today uses state-of-art information technology to provide an efficient and transparent trading, clearing and settlement mechanism, and has witnessed several innovations in products & services viz. demutualisation of stock exchange governance, screen based trading, compression of settlement cycles, dematerialisation and electronic transfer of securities, securities lending and borrowing, professionalisation of trading members, fine-tuned risk management systems, emergence of clearing corporations to assume counterparty risks, market of debt and derivative instruments and intensive use of information technology.

  NSE MILESTONES

November 1992 Incorporation

April 1993 Recognition as a stock exchange

May 1993 Formulation of business plan

June 1994 Wholesale Debt Market segment goes live

November 1994 Capital Market (Equities) segment goes live

March 1995 Establishment of Investor Grievance Cell

April 1995 Establishment of NSCCL, the first Clearing Corporation

June 1995 Introduction of centralised insurance cover for all trading members

July 1995 Establishment of Investor Protection Fund

October 1995 Became largest stock exchange in the country

April 1996 Commencement of clearing and settlement by NSCCL

April 1996 Launch of S&P CNX Nifty

June 1996 Establishment of Settlement Guarantee Fund

November 1996 Setting up of National Securities Depository Limited, first depository in India, co-promoted by NSE

November 1996 Best IT Usage award by Computer Society of India

December 1996 Commencement of trading/settlement in dematerialised securities

December 1996 Dataquest award for Top IT User

December 1996 Launch of CNX Nifty Junior

February 1997 Regional clearing facility goes live

November 1997 Best IT Usage award by Computer Society of India

May 1998 Promotion of joint venture, India Index Services & Products Limited (IISL)

May 1998 Launch of NSE's Web-site: www.nse.co.in

July 1998 Launch of NSE's Certification Programme in Financial Market

August 1998 CYBER CORPORATE OF THE YEAR 1998 award

February 1999 Launch of Automated Lending and Borrowing Mechanism

April 1999 CHIP Web Award by CHIP magazine

October 1999 Setting up of NSE.IT

January 2000 Launch of NSE Research Initiative

February 2000 Commencement of Internet Trading

June 2000 Commencement of Derivatives Trading (Index Futures)

September 2000 Launch of 'Zero Coupon Yield Curve'

November 2000 Launch of Broker Plaza by Dotex International, a joint venture between NSE.IT Ltd. and i-flex Solutions Ltd.

December 2000 Commencement of WAP trading

June 2001 Commencement of trading in Index Options

July 2001 Commencement of trading in Options on Individual Securities

November 2001 Commencement of trading in Futures on Individual Securities

December 2001 Launch of NSE VaR for Government Securities

January 2002 Launch of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

May 2002 NSE wins the Wharton-Infosys Business Transformation Award in the Organization-wide Transformation category

October 2002 Launch of NSE Government Securities Index

January 2003 Commencement of trading in Retail Debt Market

June 2003 Launch of Interest Rate Futures

August 2003 Launch of Futures & options in CNXIT Index

June 2004 Launch of STP Interoperability

August 2004 Launch of NSE’s electronic interface for listed companies

March 2005 ‘India Innovation Award’ by EMPI Business School, New Delhi

June 2005 Launch of Futures & options in BANK Nifty Index

December 2006 'Derivative Exchange of the Year', by Asia Risk magazine

January 2007 Launch of NSE – CNBC TV 18 media centre

March 2007 NSE, CRISIL announce launch of IndiaBondWatch.com

June 2007 NSE launches derivatives on Nifty Junior & CNX 100

October 2007 NSE launches derivatives on Nifty Midcap 50

January 2008 Introduction of Mini Nifty derivative contracts on 1st January 2008

March 2008 Introduction of long term option contracts on S&P CNX Nifty Index

April 2008 Launch of India VIX

April 2008 Launch of Securities Lending & Borrowing Scheme

SENSEX

SENSEX - The Barometer of Indian Capital Markets

SENSEX, first compiled in 1986, was calculated on a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" methodology of 30 component stocks representing large, well-established and financially sound companies across key sectors. The base year of SENSEX was taken as 1978-79. SENSEX today is widely reported in both domestic and international markets through print as well as electronic media. It is scientifically designed and is based on globally accepted construction and review methodology. Since September 1, 2003, SENSEX is being calculated on a free-float market capitalization methodology. The "free-float market capitalization-weighted" methodology is a widely followed index construction methodology on which majority of global equity indices are based; all major index providers like MSCI, FTSE, STOXX, S&P and Dow Jones use the free-float methodology.

The growth of the equity market in India has been phenomenal in the present decade. Right from early nineties, the stock market witnessed heightened activity in terms of various bull and bear runs. In the late nineties, the Indian market witnessed a huge frenzy in the 'TMT' sectors. More recently, real estate caught the fancy of the investors. SENSEX has captured all these happenings in the most judicious manner. One can identify the booms and busts of the Indian equity market through SENSEX. As the oldest index in the country, it provides the time series data over a fairly long period of time (from 1979 onwards). Small wonder, the SENSEX has become one of the most prominent brands in the country.

SENSEX Calculation Methodology

SENSEX is calculated using the "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology, wherein, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization.

The base period of SENSEX is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the free-float market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the SENSEX. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate SENSEX every 15 seconds. The value of SENSEX is disseminated in real time.

Dollex-30

BSE also calculates a dollar-linked version of SENSEX and historical values of this index are available since its inception. (For more details click 'Dollex series of BSE indices')

SENSEX - Scrip Selection Criteria

The general guidelines for selection of constituents in SENSEX are as follows:

Listed History:The scrip should have a listing history of at least 3 months at BSE. Exception may be considered if full market capitalization of a newly listed company ranks among top 10 in the list of BSE universe. In case, a company is listed on account of merger/ demerger/ amalgamation, minimum listing history would not be required.

Trading Frequency:The scrip should have been traded on each and every trading day in the last three months at BSE. Exceptions can be made for extreme reasons like scrip suspension etc.

Final Rank:The scrip should figure in the top 100 companies listed by final rank. The final rank is arrived at by assigning 75% weightage to the rank on the basis of three-month average full market capitalization and 25% weightage to the liquidity rank based on three-month average daily turnover & three-month average impact cost.

Market Capitalization Weightage:The weightage of each scrip in SENSEX based on three-month average free-float market capitalization should be at least 0.5% of the Index.

Industry/Sector Representation:Scrip selection would generally take into account a balanced representation of the listed companies in the universe of BSE.

Track Record:In the opinion of the BSE Index Committee, the company should have an acceptable track record.

TOP

Understanding Free-float Methodology

Concept

Free-float methodology refers to an index construction methodology that takes into consideration only the free-float market capitalization of a company for the purpose of index calculation and assigning weight to stocks in the index. Free-float market capitalization takes into consideration only those shares issued by the company that are readily available for trading in the market. It generally excludes promoters' holding, government holding, strategic holding and other locked-in shares that will not come to the market for trading in the normal course. In other words, the market capitalization of each company in a free-float index is reduced to the extent of its readily available shares in the market.

Subsequently all BSE indices with the exception of BSE-PSU index have adopted the free-float methodology.

Major advantages of Free-float Methodology

A Free-float index reflects the market trends more rationally as it takes into consideration only those shares that are available for trading in the market.

Free-float Methodology makes the index more broad-based by reducing the concentration of top few companies in Index.

A Free-float index aids both active and passive investing styles. It aids active managers by enabling them to benchmark their fund returns vis-Ã -vis an investible index. This enables an apple-to-apple comparison thereby facilitating better evaluation of performance of active managers. Being a perfectly replicable portfolio of stocks, a Free-float adjusted index is best suited for the passive managers as it enables them to track the index with the least tracking error.

Free-float Methodology improves index flexibility in terms of including any stock from the universe of listed stocks. This improves market coverage and sector coverage of the index. For example, under a Full-market capitalization methodology, companies with large market capitalization and low free-float cannot generally be included in the Index because they tend to distort the index by having an undue influence on the index movement. However, under the Free-float Methodology, since only the free-float market capitalization of each company is considered for index calculation, it becomes possible to include such closely-held companies in the index while at the same time preventing their undue influence on the index movement.

Globally, the Free-float Methodology of index construction is considered to be an industry best practice and all major index providers like MSCI, FTSE, S&P and STOXX have adopted the same. MSCI, a leading global index provider, shifted all its indices to the Free-float Methodology in 2002. The MSCI India Standard Index, which is followed by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to track Indian equities, is also based on the Free-float Methodology. NASDAQ-100, the underlying index to the famous Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) - QQQ is based on the Free-float Methodology.

Definition of Free-float

Shareholding of investors that would not, in the normal course come into the open market for trading are treated as 'Controlling/ Strategic Holdings' and hence not included in free-float. Specifically, the following categories of holding are generally excluded from the definition of Free-float:

Shares held by founders/directors/ acquirers which has control element

Shares held by persons/ bodies with "Controlling Interest"

Shares held by Government as promoter/acquirer

Holdings through the FDI Route

Strategic stakes by private corporate bodies/ individuals

Equity held by associate/group companies (cross-holdings)

Equity held by Employee Welfare Trusts

Locked-in shares and shares which would not be sold in the open market in normal course.

TOP

The remaining shareholders fall under the Free-float category.

Determining Free-float Factors of Companies

BSE has designed a Free-float format, which is filled and submitted by all index companies on a quarterly basis. (Format available on www.bseindia.com). BSE determines the Free-float factor for each company based on the detailed information submitted by the companies in the prescribed format. Free-float factor is a multiple with which the total market capitalization of a company is adjusted to arrive at the Free-float market capitalization. Once the Free-float of a company is determined, it is rounded-off to the higher multiple of 5 and each company is categorized into one of the 20 bands given below. A Free-float factor of say 0.55 means that only 55% of the market capitalization of the company will be considered for index calculation.

Index Closure Algorithm

The closing SENSEX on any trading day is computed taking the weighted average of all the trades on SENSEX constituents in the last 30 minutes of trading session. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded in the last 30 minutes, the last traded price is taken for computation of the Index closure. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded at all in a day, then its last day's closing price is taken for computation of Index closure. The use of Index Closure Algorithm prevents any intentional manipulation of the closing index value.

Maintenance of SENSEX

One of the important aspects of maintaining continuity with the past is to update the base year average. The base year value adjustment ensures that replacement of stocks in Index, additional issue of capital and other corporate announcements like 'rights issue' etc. do not destroy the historical value of the index. The beauty of maintenance lies in the fact that adjustments for corporate actions in the Index should not per se affect the index values.

The BSE Index Cell does the day-to-day maintenance of the index within the broad index policy framework set by the BSE Index Committee. The BSE Index Cell ensures that SENSEX and all the other BSE indices maintain their benchmark properties by striking a delicate balance between frequent replacements in index and maintaining its historical continuity. The BSE Index Committee comprises of capital market expert, fund managers, market participants and members of the BSE Governing Board.

On-Line Computation of the Index

During trading hours, value of the Index is calculated and disseminated every 15 seconds. This is done automatically on the basis of prices at which trades in Index constituents are executed.

Adjustment for Bonus, Rights and Newly Issued Capital

SENSEX calculation needs to be adjusted for issue of Bonus or Rights shares If no adjustments were made, a discontinuity would arise between the current value of the index and its previous value despite the non-occurrence of any economic activity of substance. At the BSE Index Cell , the base value is adjusted, which is used to alter market capitalization of the component stocks to arrive at the SENSEX value.

The BSE Index Cell keeps a close watch on the events that might affect the index on a regular basis and carries out daily maintenance of all the 19 Indices.

Adjustments for Rights Issues

When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues right shares, the free-float market capitalization of that company is increased by the number of additional shares issued based on the theoretical (ex-right) price. An offsetting or proportionate adjustment is then made to the Base Market capitalization (see 'Base Market capitalization Adjustment' below).

Adjustments for Bonus Issue

When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues bonus shares, the market capitalization of that company does not undergo any change. Therefore, there is no change in the Base Market capitalization, only the 'number of shares' in the formula is updated.

Other Issues

Base Market capitalization adjustment is required when new shares are issued by way of conversion of debentures, mergers, spin-offs etc. or when equity is reduced by way of buy-back of shares, corporate restructuring etc.

Base Market capitalization Adjustment

The formula for adjusting the Base Market capitalization is as follows:

New Market capitalization

New Base Market capitalization = Old Base Market capitalization x ---------------------------------------

Old Market capitalization

To illustrate, suppose a company issues right shares which increases the market capitalization of the shares of that company by say, Rs.100 crores. The existing Base Market capitalization (Old Base Market capitalization), say, is Rs.2450 crores and the aggregate market capitalization of all the shares included in the index before the right issue is made is, say Rs.4781 crore. The "New Base Market capitalization " will then be:

2450 x (4781+100)

-------------------------- = Rs.2501.24 crores

         4781

This figure of Rs. 2501.24 crore will be used as the Base Market capitalization for calculating the index number from then onwards till the next base change becomes necessary.

Index Review Frequency

The BSE Index Committee meets every quarter to discuss index related issues. In case of a revision in the Index constituents, the announcement of the incoming and outgoing scrips is made six weeks in advance of the actual implementation of the revision of the Index.

History of Replacement of Scrips in SENSEX

Date Outgoing Scrips Replaced by

01.01.1986 Bombay Burmah Voltas

Asian Cables Peico

Crompton Greaves Premier Auto.

Scinda G.E.Shipping

03.08.1992 Zenith Ltd. Bharat Forge

   

19.08.1996 Ballarpur Inds. Arvind Mills

  Bharat Forge Bajaj Auto

  Bombay Dyeing BHEL

  Ceat Tyres BSES

  Century Text. Colgate

  GSFC Guj. Amb. Cement

  Hind. Motors HPCL

  Indian Organic ICICI

  Indian Rayon IDBI

  Kirloskar Cummins IPCL

  Mukand Iron MTNL

  Phlips Ranbaxy Lab.

  Premier Auto State Bank of India

  Siemens Steel Authority of India

  Voltas Tata Chem

   

16.11.1998 Arvind Mills Castrol

  G. E. Shipping Infosys Technologies

  IPCL NIIT Ltd.

  Steel Authority of India Novartis

   

10.04.2000 I.D.B.I Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

  Indian Hotels Reliance Petroleum

  Tata Chem Satyam Computers

  Tata Power Zee Telefilms

   

08.01.2001 Novartis Cipla Ltd.

   

07.01.2002 NIIT Ltd. HCL Technologies

  Mahindra & Mahindra Hero Honda Motors Ltd.

   

31.05.2002 ICICI Ltd. ICICI Bank Ltd.

   

10.10.2002 Reliance Petroleum Ltd. HDFC Ltd.

   

10.11.2003 Castrol India Ltd. Bharti-Tele-Ventures Ltd.

  Colgate Palomive . HDFC Bank Ltd.

(India) Ltd

  Glaxo Smithkline . ONGC Ltd.

Pharma. Ltd

  HCL Technologies Ltd. Tata Power Company Ltd.

  Nestle (India) Ltd. Wipro Ltd.

   

19.05.2004 Larsen & Toubro Ltd. Maruti Udyog Ltd.

   

27.09.2004 Mahanagar Telephone Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Nigam Ltd.

   

06.06.2005 Hindustan Petroleum National Thermal Power Corpn. Ltd.

Corp Ltd.

Zee Telefilms Ltd. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

   

12.06.2006 Tata Power Ltd. Reliance Communiation Ventures Ltd.

   

09.07.2007 Hero Honda Motors Ltd. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

   

19.11.2007 Dr. Reddy's DLF Ltd.

 Laboratories Ltd.

   

14.03.2008 Bajaj Auto Ltd. Jaiprakash Associates Ltd.

   

28.07.2008 Ambuja Cements Ltd. Sterlite Industries Ltd.

Cipla Ltd. Tata Power Co. Ltd.

BOMBAY STOCK EXCHANGE

Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia with a rich heritage, now spanning three centuries in its 133 years of existence. What is now popularly known as BSE was established as "The Native Share & Stock Brokers' Association" in 1875.

BSE is the first stock exchange in the country which obtained permanent recognition (in 1956) from the Government of India under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956. BSE's pivotal and pre-eminent role in the development of the Indian capital market is widely recognized. It migrated from the open outcry system to an online screen-based order driven trading system in 1995. Earlier an Association Of Persons (AOP), BSE is now a corporatised and demutualised entity incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, pursuant to the BSE (Corporatisation and Demutualisation) Scheme, 2005 notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). With demutualisation, BSE has two of world's best exchanges, Deutsche Börse and Singapore Exchange, as its strategic partners.

Over the past 133 years, BSE has facilitated the growth of the Indian corporate sector by providing it with an efficient access to resources. There is perhaps no major corporate in India which has not sourced BSE's services in raising resources from the capital market.

Today, BSE is the world's number 1 exchange in terms of the number of listed companies and the world's 5th in transaction numbers. The market capitalization as on December 31, 2007 stood at USD 1.79 trillion . An investor can choose from more than 4,700 listed companies, which for easy reference, are classified into A, B, S, T and Z groups.

The BSE Index, SENSEX, is India's first stock market index that enjoys an iconic stature , and is tracked worldwide. It is an index of 30 stocks representing 12 major sectors. The SENSEX is constructed on a 'free-float' methodology, and is sensitive to market sentiments and market realities. Apart from the SENSEX, BSE offers 21 indices, including 12 sectoral indices. BSE has entered into an index cooperation agreement with Deutsche Börse. This agreement has made SENSEX and other BSE indices available to investors in Europe and America. Moreover, Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the global leader in ETFs through its iShares® brand, has created the 'iShares® BSE SENSEX India Tracker' which tracks the SENSEX. The ETF enables investors in Hong Kong to take an exposure to the Indian equity market.

BSE has tied up with U.S. Futures Exchange (USFE) for U.S. dollar-denominated futures trading of SENSEX in the U.S. The tie-up enables eligible U.S. investors to directly participate in India's equity markets for the first time, without requiring American Depository Receipt (ADR) authorization. The first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on SENSEX, called "SPIcE" is listed on BSE. It brings to the investors a trading tool that can be easily used for the purposes of investment, trading, hedging and arbitrage. SPIcE allows small investors to take a long-term view of the market.

BSE provides an efficient and transparent market for trading in equity, debt instruments and derivatives. It has a nation-wide reach with a presence in more than 450 cities and towns of India. BSE has always been at par with the international standards. The systems and processes are designed to safeguard market integrity and enhance transparency in operations. BSE is the first exchange in India and the second in the world to obtain an ISO 9001:2000 certification. It is also the first exchange in the country and second in the world to receive Information Security Management System Standard BS 7799-2-2002 certification for its BSE On-line Trading System (BOLT).

BSE continues to innovate. In recent times, it has become the first national level stock exchange to launch its website in Gujarati and Hindi to reach out to a larger number of investors. It has successfully launched a reporting platform for corporate bonds in India christened the ICDM or Indian Corporate Debt Market and a unique ticker-cum-screen aptly named 'BSE Broadcast' which enables information dissemination to the common man on the street.

In 2006, BSE launched the Directors Database and ICERS (Indian Corporate Electronic Reporting System) to facilitate information flow and increase transparency in the Indian capital market. While the Directors Database provides a single-point access to information on the boards of directors of listed companies, the ICERS facilitates the corporates in sharing with BSE their corporate announcements.

BSE also has a wide range of services to empower investors and facilitate smooth transactions:


Investor Services: The Department of Investor Services redresses grievances of investors. BSE was the first exchange in the country to provide an amount of Rs.1 million towards the investor protection fund; it is an amount higher than that of any exchange in the country. BSE launched a nationwide investor awareness programme- 'Safe Investing in the Stock Market' under which 264 programmes were held in more than 200 cities.

The BSE On-line Trading (BOLT): BSE On-line Trading (BOLT) facilitates on-line screen based trading in securities. BOLT is currently operating in 25,000 Trader Workstations located across over 450 cities in India.

BSEWEBX.com: In February 2001, BSE introduced the world's first centralized exchange-based Internet trading system, BSEWEBX.com. This initiative enables investors anywhere in the world to trade on the BSE platform.

Surveillance: BSE's On-Line Surveillance System (BOSS) monitors on a real-time basis the price movements, volume positions and members' positions and real-time measurement of default risk, market reconstruction and generation of cross market alerts.

BSE Training Institute: BTI imparts capital market training and certification, in collaboration with reputed management institutes and universities. It offers over 40 courses on various aspects of the capital market and financial sector. More than 20,000 people have attended the BTI programmes


Awards
The World Council of Corporate Governance has awarded the Golden Peacock Global CSR Award for BSE's initiatives in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The Annual Reports and Accounts of BSE for the year ended March 31, 2006 and March 31 2007 have been awarded the ICAI awards for excellence in financial reporting.
The Human Resource Management at BSE has won the Asia - Pacific HRM awards for its efforts in employer branding through talent management at work, health management at work and excellence in HR through technology
Drawing from its rich past and its equally robust performance in the recent times, BSE will continue to remain an icon in the Indian capital market.

Vision

"Emerge as the premier Indian stock exchange by establishing global benchmarks"