NSE, former chief Vikram Limaye, others settle TAP system case with Sebi; pay Rs 643 cr

The National Stock Exchange (NSE), its former chief Vikram Limaye and eight others on Friday settled with markets regulator Sebi a case pertaining to alleged bypass of trading access point (TAP) system by certain brokers after paying Rs 643 crore. Apart from NSE and Limaye, those who settled the case are — Umesh Jain G. M. Shenoy, Narayan Neelakantan, V. R. Narasimhan, Kamala K, Nilesh Tinaikar, R Nandakumar and Mayur Sindhwad.

TAP was a software application deployed by NSE in 2008 on the servers of trading members for managing connections and messages (orders/trades) of such members. Trading members, registered with NSE, connected to TAP to establish communication with the NSE trading system.

In its settlement order, Sebi said that NSE, on behalf of itself and other applicants, has remitted the settlement amount of Rs 643 crore on September 25, 2024, the receipt of which is confirmed.

Accordingly, “the proceedings initiated against the applicants vide the SCN (show cause notice)dated February 28, 2023 are hereby disposed of,” it added.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) conducted an examination with respect to the TAP Architecture and Network Connectivity of NSE to ascertain the possibility of a bypass of TAP by trading members, the manner in which a complaint dated November 20, 2013 was dealt with by the exchange and possible lapses on the part of the bourse and whether such lapses led to any violation of securities laws.

After conclusion of the examination, a show cause notice was issued by Sebi in February 2023, alleging NSE did not take remedial measures to prevent / discourage any possible bypass of TAP among others.