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NSE-SGX Connect Via GIFT City Goes Live On July 15

The NSE and SGX started testing negotiated large trades through the IFSC in May.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>NSE IFSC -SGX Data Connect launch at GIFT City (Source: NSE)</p></div>
NSE IFSC -SGX Data Connect launch at GIFT City (Source: NSE)

The real-time connection between National Stock Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange through the international finance hub in Gujarat will go live on July 15, according to a notification sent by the SGX to all its vendors.

The IFSC-SGX connect will mark the beginning of moving overseas Nifty trades to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City or GIFT City. The Singapore bourse has incorporated a special purpose vehicle--SGX India Connect IFSC Private Ltd.--for the arrangement.

Once fully live, orders for the Nifty-based derivatives contracts from trading members based in Singapore will be routed via SGX-ICI to NSE IFSC for trading and execution. The trades will be subsequently cleared and settled through NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Ltd., with SGX-Derivatives Clearing as the central counterparty.

The connect will offer futures and options for benchmark Nifty 50 Index, Nifty Bank Index, Nifty IT Index and Nifty Financial Services Index. All F&O contracts will be listed on NSE IFSC.

The connect was necessitated after Indian bourses decided to stop providing pricing data to SGX to protect derivative volumes from moving offshore. The exchanges later agreed to route trading through the International Financial Services Centre in GIFT City.

The connect started testing negotiated large trades in May. Volumes and value began inching up since mid-May, with the total value of trades at $25 billion last month. That's about a quarter of the trading volume of Nifty products on SGX.

Trading Hours

The connect will have two sessions. The first from 8:00 a.m. and till 5:00 p.m. India Standard Time; and the second from 5:02 p.m. till 2:45 a.m. IST, in line with the trading hours of the U.S. markets.