Refco-Sify Securities

Made in US engine
Refco-Sify Securities India Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Mumbai, is a joint venture between Refco Group Holdings Inc., US, and Satyam Infoway. It offers on-line and off-line equity and future trading for retail investors. It also executes and offers clearing services to financial institutions. The company has an initial capitalisation of $ 10 mln, with Refco retaining 60% and Satyam Infoway holding 40% ownership of the company. The company is an NSE member and has recently acquired a BSE membership as well.

Refco Sify will be bringing the entire trading engine from New York. The company expects the trading site to be in place soon. Vineet Bhatnagar, MD, sees a 5-7% turnover via e-trading in the next 2-3 years. Opines Vineet Bhatnagar, “In the Indian markets, today, more than 80% of the trades are settled without delivery, hence they are basically speculative trades. A Charles Schwab official once said, ‘It’s only a myth that on-line trading is promoting day trading, as day traders are only a minority people on the Net. Net trading has not changed the trading pattern in the US. It’s only a new vehicle.”

However, there are some concerns as far as the depth of the market goes. Says Bhatnagar, “Our markets are diverse in terms of customers. But in terms of the number of shares which contribute to the volumes, the number of cities which contribute to the majority of volumes in the country, the number of brokers who are significant in terms of retail business are very few. We do not have very deep markets. There are very very few brokers who can be called national brokers. We do not have the likes of Charles Schwab in India.”