“F&Os cannot be and should not be a national pastime which actually means that savings of retail participants move into the pockets of institutional hands,” Bhatia said while speaking at an event here.
He said India accounts for the largest volume of futures and options (F&O) globally, but it is a ‘crown we do not wish to wear’.
“There is a saying uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…We are number one and globally also more than 50 % of the F&O volume happens in India. This is a crown we do not wish to wear,” Bhatia said.
Early this month, the regulator introduced a raft of measures to curb retail participation in the derivatives segment, where at least nine out of ten participants have consistently lost money over the past three years.
It increased the minimum contract size in index derivatives to ₹15 lakh from the current ₹5 lakh, making options trading costlier. At the same time, it reduced weekly index product offerings to just one per exchange, seeking to curb frenzied speculation among retail traders.”The surprising part from the Sebi angle is the moment we came out with the latest regulation, investors are protesting…” Bhatia said. He added that investors should actively participate in the country’s wealth creation through pooled vehicles like mutual funds or direct investing.