The Securities and Exchange Board of India will soon announce the date for implementing marketwide straight through processing system for further reduction in cost and time for capital market transactions.

The regulator has reviewed the progress of and working of STP and would soon announce date for making it mandatory in the market, SEBI chairman G N Bajpai said at function organised by Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The use of STP is currently voluntary. If an order is placed for sale or purchase of securities under STP, all further transactions including debit and credit of funds are done automatically through electronic transfers, helping to reduce cost and time.

Bajpai said the marketwide STP would be put in place before moving to T+1 settlement cycle.

The transaction costs in India were lowest in the world giving overseas investors confidence about efficacy of our markets, he said.

The overseas investors have invested in more proportions this year than before and shown strong interest in Indian equities. This was evident even during some public offering to divest government holding in the companies.

Sebi seeks info on pvt unlisted debt issues

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has permitted debenture trustees to associate with privately placed unlisted debt issues and asked them to furnish relevant additional information in their periodical report.

The debenture trustees would be responsible for such issues and are accountable and hence it was considered necessary to monitor the exposure of Sebi registered debenture trustees in such unlisted debt issues, Sebi said.