Trading uninterrupted! If BSE goes down, trade on NSE, and vice versa

In the past, SEBI introduced various measures to ensure uninterrupted trading, including interoperability among clearing corporations and maintaining mirror copies of clearing files across venues.

The alternative trading venue will be available for cash market segments—such as the main board, SME board, equity derivatives, and T+0 securities—if the exchanges notify each other about the outage. However, some trading sessions and windows will only be available if the exchange outage is reported before the market opens.

For instance, the Pre-Open Session and the Special Pre-Open Session for IPO or re-listed securities will only be accessible if the outage is communicated in advance. Additionally, the block deal window will not be available if the outage is reported after market opening. All other sessions, including the normal market session, post-closing session, auction trading session, and equity derivatives trading session, will proceed as usual.

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Exclusively listed securities will have a unique suffix in their trading symbols to distinguish them on the alternative exchange. However, this alternative trade mechanism will not apply on special trading days, such as Muhurat trading or any other unplanned trading sessions.

Exchanges will notify traders via broadcast messages on trading terminals regarding the commencement of trading for exclusively listed securities, along with exact timings. However, pending orders and executed trades from the affected exchange will not be visible on the alternative exchange. Additionally, securities will be subject to the trading norms of the alternative exchange—for example, BSE-listed stocks will follow NSE’s trading norms when routed through NSE.

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Brokers registered with both NSE and BSE will be able to trade on securities or contracts available at the alternative exchange. However, they can only place orders for clients whose details are mapped at both exchanges.

According to NSE’s circular, brokers who are NSE members are advised not to place orders for securities listed exclusively on BSE. “Violations of this rule may result in disciplinary action,” NSE circular said. If the affected exchange resumes operations during the day, trading will continue simultaneously on both exchanges. Before invoking the alternative trading mechanism, exchanges will issue widespread communication to stakeholders.

Mock trading sessions for this mechanism were conducted on March 29. The proposal had been under discussion with SEBI for some time and is now being implemented after ensuring readiness. SEBI issued a detailed circular on this in November last year.

In the past, SEBI introduced various measures to ensure uninterrupted trading, including interoperability among clearing corporations and maintaining mirror copies of clearing files across venues. With this latest move, exchanges are expected to achieve full interoperability.

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