Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 28: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said the market regulator has no immediate plans to modify the newly introduced Closing Auction Session (CAS), despite concerns raised by market participants over differences between pre-auction prices and the final closing price.

Asked whether changes were being considered based on stakeholder feedback, Pandey said there were no such plans at present and that the system was functioning as intended. He also expressed confidence that participation in the auction would increase as brokers integrate the facility more prominently into their trading platforms and investors become familiar with the new mechanism.

The CAS came into effect on August 3 for eligible cash-market stocks that have corresponding futures and options contracts. Under the new framework, regular trading ends at 3:15 pm, followed by a separate 20-minute auction that runs until 3:35 pm. Buy and sell orders are matched during the auction to determine an equilibrium price, which becomes the official closing price.

The new system replaced the earlier method of calculating closing prices using the volume-weighted average price of trades executed during the final 30 minutes of regular trading. SEBI has said the auction-based mechanism is intended to make closing prices more representative and transparent while bringing India's market structure closer to international practices.

Pandey also indicated that SEBI's regulatory review of the National Stock Exchange's proposed initial public offering is nearing completion. Asked whether the exchange could receive regulatory clearance within the next couple of weeks, he said, “Yes, we are close.”

The development comes after NSE submitted its Draft Red Herring Prospectus to SEBI on June 17, 2026. The exchange had earlier secured a no-objection certificate from the regulator, removing a key regulatory hurdle that had delayed its listing plans for several years.

According to the draft offer documents, the proposed NSE IPO will comprise only an offer for sale by existing shareholders, with the exchange not issuing any new shares. The proposed issue covers up to 148.91 million equity shares with a face value of Re 1 each, with the shares proposed to be listed on the BSE.

NSE has not yet announced the IPO's price band, leaving the eventual size and valuation of the offering undecided.