NSE's 'Alpha' for brokers

National Stock Exchange (NSE) is bringing in the concept of deposit-based membership akin to MCX-SX, promoted by the Financial Technology Group led by Jignesh Shah. Under the offer,  any broking firm can acquire capital market segment membership with a deposit of Rs 20 lakh and F&O (future and options) segment membership with deposit of Rs 25 lakh.

The NSE offer envisages members can choose any one or both segments, as against existing offer of combined membership of both segments, for a deposit of Rs 1.10 crore. Net worth requirements have also been reduced by 50 per cent to Rs 50 lakh for this category. Existing NSE members will be allowed to convert their current membership to the new ‘Alpha’ category. Resulting surplus deposits of switched members with the bourse will be utilised to pay transaction and infrastructure charges, over a period of three years.

NSE said it has professionalised the broking industry by bringing in concept of deposit-based membership opening opportunities for professionals entering broking arena for the first time. Currently, all market intermediaries, irrespective of whether they handle customer funds, are subject to same base capital and net worth requirements.