BSE to allow MF brokers place orders through mobile

The Bombay Stock Exchange would allow brokers to place orders through mobile phones in its mutual funds transaction platform in the next 15 days.

The exchange hopes the facility would enhance the accessibility of traders to the BSE StAR MF, BSE deputy chief executive officer Ashish Chauhan said. "Using this facility, brokers can place orders from anywhere through their mobile phones. This would be launched in the next 10-15 days.

"Moving ahead, we would also like to extend this facility to the investors," Chauhan told reporters here. BSE had launched the MF platform early this month, less than a week after NSE made its own platform operational.

The exchange is also planning to extend the equity back office software, SPARK, developed by Marketplace Technologies, to the brokers transacting in the StAR MF platform, he said.

UTI mutual fund on Monday joined BSE's MF platform and will offer 30 schemes, which include 92 International Securities Identification Numbers.

With this, 10 fund houses are currently offering over 150 schemes in the BSE StAR MF platform. Ten more companies have agreed to join in-principle in the near future, a BSE official said.

Announcing the tie up with BSE, UTI MF's chairman, U K Sinha said MF penetration in the country still remained low and introduction of fund transactions through the exchange infrastructure would help increase the market.

On the first day of its launch, seven MF companies had offered a total of 103 schemes in the BSE StAR MF platform. The BSE, which is Asia's oldest exchange, has a reach to over 400 cities through 40,000 terminals.