Top retail brokerages, led by Geojit BNP Paribas, Kotak Securities, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and India Infoline, are all geared up to launch mobile trading after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) allowed securities trading usi­ng internet protocol.

Sebi on Friday issued guidelines for securities tra­ding using wireless technology via mobile phones and laptops with data card, pav­ing the way for a host of brokerages to allow their clie­nts to buy and sell securities even while on the move. Financial Chronicle in its August 20 issue broke the story about the Sebi’s technical advisory panel giving its clearance for the same.

CJ George, MD at Geojit BNP Pari­bas, said they have 10,000 clients who are able to monitor stock prices and NSE’s index level on their mobiles through their product called ‘MarketWatch’. “These clients can switch over to the mobile trading facility once we get nod from the NSE.” According to him, this would change the way securities transactions are done in India.

Added D Kannan, managing director of Kotak Securities: “We have been working on the product for sometime now. Initially, we will be offering mobile trading facility to all our existing clients.” “Security features incorporated by Sebi are strong and compare well with those in developed markets,” said Kannan. Kotak Securities has an investor base of five lakh clients.

Vishal Gulechha, head product (equity) at ICICI Securities, said the brokerage was awaiting more clarity from the stock exchanges. “We are awaiting more clarity from exchan­ges. We will have to see what exchanges have to say on technology requirement for the mobile trading platform to be set up.”

While issuing the circular on securities trading through wireless technology, Sebi asked the stock exchanges to ensure that brokers comply with secure access, encryption and security of communication for internet-based trading and securities using wireless technology.

Adequate measures should also be taken for user identification, authentication and access control using means such as user-id, passwords, smart cards, biometric devices or other reliable means, to prevent misuse of the facility by unauthorised persons.

A spokesperson for India Infoline said: “We are oper­ationally ready but excha­nges are yet to clarify mobile trading as a technology for setting up a platform.”

Venkat Rangan, co-fou­nder and CEO of Chennai-based INXS Technologies, said they were in talks with several broking firms to provide the technology for mobile trading. MarketSimplified, its parent firm, is a leading player in this business in the US, powering top online brokers such as TD Ameritrade, OptionsXpress, FXCM and ChoiceTrade, among others.

“There are 500 million mobile users as compared to just 10 million broadband users. We see mobile trading a huge opportunity,” said Rangan.