Financial Tech slips 20% as NSEL defaults on payout

NEW DELHI: Financial Technologies (India) Ltd plunged as much as 20 per cent in morning trade after its subsidiary National Spot Exchange (NSEL) defaulted on payments to investors on Tuesday. The first payout from borrowers on NSEL to 148 broker members, representing 13,000 investors, was unsuccessful with the exchange managing to recover Rs 92.12 crore against the Rs 174.72 crore it was supposed to pay out every week for the next five months beginning August 20. The total amount due to be paid out is Rs 5574.31 crore over 30 weeks. At 09:40 a.m.; Financial Technologies recouped some of the morning losses and was trading 6.3 per cent lower at Rs 132.40. It has hit a low of Rs 113.05 and a high of Rs 140 in trade today. Shares in Multi Commodity Exchange of India, another FT-promoted entity were locked in upper circuit on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock was up 5 per cent at Rs 281.55. On Tuesday, market regulator FMC wrote a letter to the bourse's board saying it risked losing its "fit and proper person" status, and warned that in the event of such an "eventuality" it could not continue to hold directorship or shareholding in MCX or any other recognised commodity futures exchange. " Anjani Sinha, MD & CEO, and six other officials of NSEL were stripped of their posts on Tuesday after the troubled bourse failed to clear its first payout," ET reported. "NSEL's inability to meet the payout obligations may also cast a cloud of doubt on NSEL promoter FTIL's fitness to retain control over other exchanges such as MCX and MCX-SX," added the ET report.