RBI opens Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives market to Non-Residents for hedging and trading in India

The Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) on 27 March 2019, announced that a Non-Resident[1] shall be given access to the Rupee Interest Rate Derivative (“IRD”) market in India vide the notification of Non-resident Participation in Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives Market (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2019 (the “Directions”) with immediate effect which applies to Rupee IRD transactions undertaken on recognized stock exchanges, electronic trading platforms (“ETP”) and Over the Counter (“OTC”) markets.

Permissible activities under the Directions: Under the Directions, a Non-Resident can undertake transactions in Rupee IRD markets for the following purposes:

1.Hedging their exposure to interest rate risk by using any permitted IRD product transacted on recognized stock exchanges, ETPs or OTC market, subject to the following condition

  • IRD transaction must conform to the provisions of Section 45(V) of the RBI Act, 1934 and FEMA, 1999, and any rules, regulations and directions issued thereunder;
  • Market-makers must ensure that the transactions by Non-Resident are being carried out for the purpose of hedging by calling for any relevant information from the Non-Resident, who will be obliged to provide the same

2. For purposes other than hedging of interest rate risk, i.e. Trading by;

  • Non-Residents other than individuals, for undertaking Overnight Indexed Swaps (“OIS”) transactions subject to condition of conducting it only through a market-maker in India by way of a back-to-back arrangement through a foreign counterpart of the market-maker in a back-to-back arrangement meaning that the Non-Resident shall undertake the transaction with a foreign counterpart of the market-maker and the foreign counterpart, in turn, immediately shall enter into an off-setting transaction with the market-maker in India. All rupee interest rate derivatives transactions, globally, of related entities of the market-maker must also be accounted for in the books of the market-maker.

OIS transactions by NRs for purposes other than hedging interest rate risk shall be subject to the overall limit as well. This shall be in the form of a Price Value of a Basis Point (“PVBP”) of all outstanding OIS positions undertaken by all Non-Residents which shall not exceed INR 3.50 billion. The PVBP of all outstanding OIS positions for any single Non-Resident shall not exceed 10% of the overall PVBP cap. The Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. (“CCIL”) shall publish methodology for calculation of PVBP, monitor and publish utilization of PVBP limit on a daily basis.

  • Foreign Portfolio Investors (“FPI”) collectively may also transact Interest Rate Future (”IRF”) up to INR 50 billion in terms of RBI’s circular titled “Separate limit of IRFs for FPIs” dated 01 March 2018.

Payments and Reporting:

All payments related to IRD transactions of a Non-Resident may be routed through a Rupee account or a vostro account. Market-makes shall also ensure that Non-Resident clients are from an FATF compliant country and that the clients comply with KYC requirements as prescribed under the RBI’s KYC Master Direction as amended from time to time. It is to be noted that this may required Non-Resident to acquire a Permanent Account Number (PAN) to quote in IRD transaction instruments. All OTC rupee IRD transactions are to be reported by market-makers and ETPs to the trade repository of CCIL, clearly indicating whether trade is for hedging or other purposes. Trade details, including particulars of NR client for OIS transactions under the back-to-back arrangement is to be reported by market-makers to the trade repository of CCIL. Additionally, cross-border remittances arising out of transactions in Rupee IRD shall be reported by banks to RBI at monthly interval.

References:

[1] A ‘Non-Resident’ under the Directions means person resident outside India as defined in section 2(w) of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

2. https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=11512

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