India will usher in currency futures trading on Friday with the National Stock Exchange all set to kick off the trading in the presence of Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The Multi Commodity Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange have also got the permission to start currency futures.

300The number of members that have enrolled for trading on the NSE

$1,000 The contract size at the initial stage. The contracts will be on US dollar-Indian rupee basis

200 The number of contracts allowed per person. These will be made available for 12 months

12 noon The final settlement on the last business day of the month

Banks too get in

The RBI has permitted banks to become members on the condition that banks selected require to be profitable for the last three years and a net worth of a minimum of Rs 500 crore. The banks should also have a minimum of 10 per cent CRAR and net NPAs not more than 3 per cent.

Meanwhile, on the BSE

The BSE has received in-principle approval from Sebi for setting up of an exchange-traded currency derivatives segment. This is in accordance with the recommendations laid down in the 'Report of the RBI-Sebi Standing Technical Committee on Exchange Traded Currency Futures' released on May 29, 2008. The BSE will soon announce the formal launch date of the new segment

What is it?

A currency future is a forex derivatives contract to buy or sell one currency against the other on a specified future date, at a price decided in the contract