Indian court extends blockage period on SGX derivatives products

The National Stock Exchange of India applied for an injunction order against SGX on 21 May.

Bloomberg reports that the Bombay High Court extended an injunction against the Singapore Exchange (SGX) filed by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) over plans for new offshore Indian derivatives contracts.

SGX previously announced that NSE obtained an interim order on 21 May that restrains SGX from launching the products in June. The stay will remain until at least the next hearing in the case between the bourses, set for 26 May, the NSE said in a statement.

SGX officials declined to comment.

NSE went to court to stop its counterpart from starting contracts that would replace its popular Nifty 50 Index derivatives. The Nifty futures in Singapore will end in the coming weeks after Indian bourses in February cancelled their licensing and data deals with overseas markets, a decision that drew consternation from international investors and left SGX and others scrambling to find alternatives. 

SGX's solution to the dispute was to ready the SGX India Futures for launch on June 4. The new contracts will be based on publicly available prices as well as market supply and demand, SGX has said, but NSE argued in court documents that they are “unlicensed products” and “identical” to the Nifty-branded futures.

Read the full report here.