‘CAS here to stay’: Sebi chief Pandey says auction system won’t be rolled back

Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said the regulator has no plans to roll back the recently introduced Closing Auction Session (CAS). However, the authority is reviewing concerns raised by market participants and considering whether the framework needs any improvements.Introduced on August 3 this year, CAS has drawn attention from some participants over issues they have faced with the new system, with several of the concerns also being raised on social media. Pandey said Sebi was examining the feedback but was not yet in a position to spell out any specific changes."'The CAS is here to stay for sure, only we will see if there are certain constraints or certain issues that we can improve, certainly we will improve," Pandey told reporters on the sidelines of a cybersecurity event organised at the Sebi-promoted National Institute of Securities Markets.The Sebi chief said the regulator was considering the suggestions received from participants, including those posted on social media, but would not react to every criticism of the new framework. He described CAS as a major reform in the markets and said Sebi had certain objectives that it was seeking to achieve through the framework."We are looking at all the suggestions, I have myself seen a number of suggestions which have come from social media. Our teams have gone through it, they are discussing with the participants," the career bureaucrat-turned-regulator said.Pandey said some of the difficulties being reported could diminish as more participants start using CAS. He also pointed to the continued reliance of several participants on systems based on the older volume-weighted average price framework, saying this meant they were unable to benefit from CAS.The Sebi chairman has previously said that similar frameworks are already used in other countries and that India was a late adaptor. On Monday, he also raised the question of whether market participants had put enough effort into familiarising themselves with the new system."When you have something going on for years and years, they feel that change will never come. We do not put in energy into learning a new system," he said.Pandey also noted that Sebi had received congratulatory messages from many stakeholders for introducing CAS.Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.