The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is all set to allow exchange trading in corporate bonds. The step is aimed to help infrastructure to raise low-cost funds which would have long repayment period. It would help to bring transparency in the corporate bond market and attract investors to invest in long-term bonds.

SEBI whole time member, T C Nair said that corporate bonds worth Rs 300-400 crore are traded daily in the bond market and the regulator would persuade the state governments for uniform stamp duty on these bonds. The proposed exchange-traded corporate bond market would bring more transparency in the system as it would mitigate chances of manipulation of bonds.
 
Mr. Nair said that the new bond mechanism would be completed within a month that would allow fund raising at competitive rate. He said that a separate exchange for derivative is possible in India only after analyzing the implications of derivatives. SEBI would launch interest rate futures by the end of January.

The market regulator has also amended rules for Disclosure and Investor protection (DIP) to establish the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) mechanism for Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs).