Tata TD Waterhouse Securities

Poised for Net debut
Tata TD Waterhouse Securities will launch its trading portal in Nov. 2000. TD Waterhouse (which is one of the largest global online financial services firms) is providing the web technology. TCS will be supplying the trading engine, while the back office support system will be supplied by RiteChoice. The company will have both a brick-and-click combination. The brokerage house expects 20-25% volume through e-trading in the next two years.

While discussing the primary concerns related to Internet trading, Anand R Jhaveri, chief executive, capital market division, says, 'The existing limitations related to reliability and costs of an Internet connection in India are some of our key concerns. Cyber laws are also an area of concern but with the passing of the IT bill, we now have a legal framework for the authentication of electronic records and communication through digital signatures. The market, I think, is bound to grow, with or without a regulatory framework."

On Sebi's plan of putting several 'A 'group scrips in the rolling settlement, Jhaveri says, "When several B group scrips were put in the rolling mode, their liquidity was hampered because people had an option to trade in other scrips. But with all scrips uniformly moving into rolling settlement, I think liquidity may be impaired initially, but after one or two months, the traders will be back."