MUMBAi: Markets regulator Sebi has allowed NSE and BSE to finalise settlement days for equity F&O contracts on their platforms with Tuesday for NSE and Thursday for BSE, the bourses said. The changed expiry days will be effective Sept 1, meaning all new equity derivatives contracts that expire on or after Sept 1, will expire on either Tuesday or Thursday, depending on the exchange.Currently, F&O contracts on NSE expire on Thursday while for BSE the designated day is Tuesday. Till now both bourses were at liberty to choose the day of expiry without any regulatory intervention. From now on the bourses have to seek Sebi’s permission before they launch or modify any contract expiry day or settlement day.For the past several months, there was speculation about the finalisation of expiry day since the markets regulator wanted each exchange to either have a Tuesday or Thursday as expiry day, mainly to curb excessive speculation in the F&O segment. In March, Sebi had published a consultation paper to seek public opinion about the day of expiry. The bourses have decided not to change the expiry day of most derivatives contracts which have already been sold. Only the expiry day of long dated index options will be realigned, they said.
