After 117 years, Calcutta Stock Exchange nears exit from stock market operations

Mumbai, Oct 19 (IANS) The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE), one of India's oldest stock exchanges, may be celebrating its final Kali Puja and Diwali this year on October 20 as a functioning bourse.

After a long legal and regulatory battle, the exchange is close to completing its voluntary exit from the stock exchange business.

CSE, founded in 1908, once competed with the Bombay Stock Exchange and was a major part of Kolkata’s financial landscape.

But the exchange faced a serious setback after the 2001 Ketan Parekh scam, which caused a payment crisis when many brokers failed to meet settlement obligations. This shook investor confidence and slowly pushed the exchange into decline.

In April 2013, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) suspended trading at CSE due to regulatory issues.

Since then, the exchange has tried for years to restart operations and challenged SEBI’s decisions in court. However, the board of CSE finally decided to withdraw from the stock exchange business.

According to CSE Chairman and Public Interest Director Deepankar Bose, shareholders approved the exit plan during an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on April 25, 2025.

The exchange then submitted its formal exit application to SEBI on February 18 this year. SEBI has appointed Rajvanshi & Associate as the valuation agency to carry out the final review before granting approval.

Once SEBI gives the final green signal, the Calcutta Stock Exchange will stop functioning as a stock exchange.

However, its wholly owned subsidiary, CSE Capital Markets Private Limited (CCMPL), will continue operations as a broker and remain a member of both the NSE and BSE. The parent company will then become a holding company.

As part of its exit process, CSE has also received SEBI’s nod to sell its three-acre land on EM Bypass to the Srijan Group for Rs 253 crore. The sale will be executed once SEBI gives the exit approval.

In preparation for the closure, CSE introduced a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for its employees, offering a one-time payout of Rs 20.95 crore.

All employees accepted the offer, and a few have been retained on contract for compliance work. The move is expected to save the company about Rs 10 crore every year.

The exchange once had 1,749 listed companies and 650 registered trading members. In its annual report for FY2025, Chairman Bose wrote that CSE has played an important role in India’s capital markets. He also disclosed that he received Rs 5.9 lakh in sitting fees during the financial year.

--IANS

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