Sebi introduces single contract note across BSE, NSE to ease post-trade compliance

In a significant step towards promoting ease of doing business for institutional investors and market participants, market regulator Sebi has introduced the usage of a common contract note (CCN) for trading on both major stock exchanges -- BSE and NSE -- for the first time.

The move by the country's markets regulator comes following a similar practice being followed across developed economies like the U.S. "Common Contract Note (CCN) with a Single Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) has been made mandatory with effect from June 27, 2025," Sebi said.

The erstwhile system required separate trade confirmations for each exchange, resulting in complicated reconciliation, settlement, and regulatory compliance. Sebi's move to provide uniformity in post-trade communication came after the representation received from market participants.

"Accordingly, in collaboration with concerned stakeholders, a single consolidated contract note mechanism with uniform VWAP was conceptualised and developed for multi-venue trading."

Reform to simplify post-trade reporting

The reform will simplify the post-trade reporting process by consolidating trades executed across multiple exchanges into a single, harmonised document, eliminating the need to process multiple contract notes. The move aims at increasing cost efficiency, reducing compliance burden for market participants and ensuring consistent trade reporting aligned with the CC interoperability framework.