With four decades of professional experience, Sundararaman Ramamurthy has firsthand knowledge of industries such as banking and the securities market. He has encountered several difficulties and storms over that period. However, it wouldn't be incorrect to state that Ramamurthy, the MD and CEO of BSE at the moment, finds himself at one of the most intriguing and difficult crossroads in his career.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) was established in the mid-1990s, when BSE - Asia's oldest stock exchange, dating back to 1875—was the sole significant exchange in the nation. Ramamurthy, 61, was a member of the founding team of NSE. Ramamurthy, who was trained as a cost accountant and was a member of the Indian Institute of Bankers, contributed to the establishment of NSE, which finally overtook BSE and even created a near-monopoly in some market sectors, such as derivatives, sometimes referred to as futures and options, or F&O.

Having previously worked for Bank of America, State Bank of India, IDBI, and other companies, Ramamurthy is now in the corner office of BSE, where he is charged with competing with NSE, an exchange he helped establish, and establishing a “meaningful presence” for the much older, but currently much smaller, bourse in terms of market share.

Think about this: When accounting for the cash market sector, BSE's share is in the single digits, having ranged from 6 to 9% in the majority of the previous months. According to statistics from the stock exchanges, BSE's average daily turnover in February was estimated to be Rs 10,341.08 crore, while NSE's was Rs 1,17,032 crore.

The F&O category was even more lopsided, with BSE's stake being less than 1% until June of last year, giving NSE, the largest derivatives exchange globally in terms of the volume of contracts exchanged, a blatant monopoly.But thanks to the work of the last several months, BSE's stake has increased from almost zero in December 2023 to over sixteen percent, with a fix of fifteen.30 percent in February.

Furthermore, if the exchange's share price is any indication—the BSE is the only listed stock exchange in the nation—the market appears to be optimistic about the bourse's prospects as well, as the stock has increased by more than 65% over the previous six months through March 15 compared to the Nifty's meager 10% gain.

However, Ramamurthy's present focus is not on the company's stock price or even an imminent increase in market share. His long-term goal is to revitalize the exchange and carve out a significant place for it in all capital market segments; this plan is still in the planning phases, and the BSE chief, who will celebrate one year in office in January 2024, is not in it for the short term.

A THRILLED TRANSACTION 

"When I first joined, there were several difficulties. While sitting in his 25th-floor office at the famous BSE headquarters, Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, which provides a bird's eye view of the Arabian Sea and the bustling business district of tony south Mumbai, Ramamurthy says, "Some of them are still there, while some of them are being addressed meaningfully." He claims that when he expresses his desire to see BSE become a lively conversation, people frequently ask him what he means. "BSE need to be a significant player in every market category in which it is licensed to operate. I saw it as like putting together a brick," he says.