What is screen-based trading system (SBTS)

Before the NSE was set up, trading on the stock exchanges in India used to take place through open outcry without use of information technology for immediate matching or recording of trades. This was time consuming and inefficient. The practice of physical trading imposed limits on trading volumes as well as, the speed with which new information was incorporated into prices.

To obviate this, the NSE introduced screen-based trading system (SBTS) where a member can punch into the computer the quantities of shares and the prices at which he wants to transact. The transaction is executed as soon as the quote punched by a trading member finds a matching sale or buys quote from counterparty. SBTS electronically matches the buyer and seller in an order-driven system or finds the customer the best price available in a quote-driven system, and hence cuts down on time, cost and risk of error as well as on the chances of fraud.

Benefits of SBTS:

• SBTS enables distant participants to trade with each other, improving the liquidity of the markets.
• The high speed with which trades are executed and the large number of participants who can trade simultaneously allows faster incorporation of price-sensitive information into prevailing prices.
• This increases the informational efficiency of markets. With SBTS, it becomes possible for market participants to see the full market, which helps to make the market more transparent, leading to increased investor confidence
• The NSE started nation-wide SBTS, which have provided a completely transparent trading mechanism. Regional exchanges lost a lot of business to NSE, forcing them to introduce SBTS