BSE's application for full membership of World Federation of Exchanges has been approved. World Federation of Exchanges formerly FIBV - International Federation of Stock Exchanges, is a global trade association for the exchange industry focussing on regulated securities and derivative markets, settlement institutions and related clearing houses, and their diverse services to capital markets.

The membership comprises of 56 regulated Exchanges from all regions of the world. Together, these Exchanges account for over 97% of the world stock market capitalisation.

It is a great recognition for BSE as well as Indian Capital Markets as the selection process and procedure for obtaining the membership is very strict and requires compliance with World Federation of Exchange market principles. The Federation's Market structure Best Practices provide the level of organisation, regulation and supervision a securities market needs to have in order to qualify as organised market. The Federation is also committed to the highest levels of market quality.

This membership provides a forum for communication, analysis and debate among members. Its purpose is to facilitate the representation, development of organized and regulated markets, and to meet the needs of evolving capital markets in the best interest of their users.

The Indian stock markets have successfully adopted the best international trade practices and are today generally recognized globally as one of the most dynamic emerging markets. The introduction of many of these measures can be attributed to the pro-active role played by the market participants who have contributed in good measure to the improvements in the microstructure of the financial markets. BSE in particular has been at the forefront in the development of the Indian capital markets.

BSE intends to play a key role in the emerging structure of the global financial market by providing an efficient and transparent institutional mechanism for the trading, clearing and settlement of transactions in the securities market.

October 7, 2002