OPERATION T+0 SETTLEMENTS - ECONOMY

News: T+0 Settlement: A new dawn in Indian stock market

 

What's in the news?

       The much-awaited T+0 settlement is finally here. The Indian stock market is poised for a significant transformation with the introduction of same-day settlement.

 

Key takeaways:

       Traditionally, Indian exchanges followed a T+2 settlement cycle, meaning trades were settled two business days after execution.

       This was shortened to T+1 in January 2023 starting in a phased manner from January 2022.

       The market is now moving to same-day settlement of trades, within a year of fully implementing the T+1 cycle.

 

Settlement:

       ‘Settlement’ is a two-way process that involves the transfer of funds and securities on the settlement date.

       As of now, there is a lag between trade and settlement — the settlement date is different from the trade date.

       A trade settlement is said to be complete once purchased securities of a listed company are delivered to the buyer, and the seller gets the money.

 

Current T+1 Cycle:

       The current cycle of ‘T+1’ in India means trade-related settlements happen within a day, or within 24 hours of the actual transaction.

       The migration to the T+1 cycle came into effect in January this year.

 

India's Progressiveness:

       India became the second country to start the T+1 settlement cycle in top listed securities after China, bringing operational efficiency, faster fund remittances, share delivery, and ease for stock market participants.

 

T+0 (Real-time Settlement):

       SEBI has said it is working on a plan for “instantaneous” settlement of trades in the securities market.

       In future, we will have a mechanism which will facilitate instantaneous settlement of transactions on stock exchanges.

       Same-day, or ‘T+0’, settlement of trades will be possible with the real-time payment system — Unified Payments Interface (UPI), online depositories and technology stack.

 

What will change for investors with T+0?

       Under the current T+1 settlement cycle, if an investor sells securities, the money gets credited into her account the following day.

       Under the T+0 settlement cycle, if investors sell shares, they will get the money in their account instantaneously, and the buyers will get the shares in their demat accounts the same day.

       The investor’s money will not get stuck with brokers or stock exchanges, they will get the money on the same day after the transactions happen.

 

Stages of Settlement:

There will be two stages to the T+0 settlement cycle.

       Phase 1 deals made up to 1:30 pm will be taken into account for the settlement, which must be finished by 4:30 pm.

       Trading will begin at 1:30 pm and last until 3:30 pm in the second phase and the first phase will be discontinued.

 

Benefits:

       A shortened settlement cycle will bring cost and time efficiency, transparency in charges to investors, and strengthen risk management at clearing corporations and the overall securities market ecosystem.

       The T+0 trade cycle is expected to provide flexibility in terms of faster pay-out of the funds against the securities to the sellers and faster pay-out of securities against the funds to the buyers.

       It will allow better control over funds and securities by the investors.

       For the securities market ecosystem, a shorter settlement cycle will further free up capital in the securities market, thereby enhancing the overall market efficiency.

       It will enhance the overall risk management of Clearing Corporations (CCs) as the trades are backed by upfront funds and securities.