KARACHI, Feb 17: The Karachi Stock Exchange has said that the Carry Over Transactions (COT) or badla phasing-out process is being carried out in a smooth and efficient manner, in accordance with the plan agreed between the SECP and the bourse.

KSE Managing Director Moin M. Fudda in a statement issued here on Thursday said that so far 13 scrips out of 29 had been withdrawn and COT market would be completely phased-out by June 3 this year. He said as per the SECP's time-bound phasing-out of badla, scrips were being phased out from COT market on a weekly basis.

Scrips that have so far been withdrawn comprise: Southern Electric, BSJS Balance Fund, PICIC Commercial Bank, Telecard, Faysal Bank, Union Bank, Engro Chemical, WorldCall, Dewan Salman, PICIC Growth Fund, Fauji Fertilizer Company, PICIC and Sui Southern Gas Company.

While scrips which will be withdrawn from now onwards are: Nishat Mills, effective February 18, 2005 and thereafter, on weekly basis, Lucky Cement, Sui Northern, Askari Commercial Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, Maple Leaf Cement, ICI Pakistan, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, Bank of Punjab, Pakistan Telecommunication, Hub Power, National Bank, Pakistan Oilfields, D.G. Khan Cement, Oil & Gas Development Company and Pakistan State Oil.

From the commencement of COT phasing-out plan, Mr Fudda said, the stock futures eligible scrips were increased from 15 to 30, in order to provide a broad-based alternate leveraging mechanism to the market participants.

"As envisaged earlier, stock futures - Deliverable Market - is now becoming more popular among the investors and the turnover is progressively increasing, simultaneously with the gradual phasing-out of badla."

He further said that margin trading and margin financing, a supplementary product to replace COT, was also made available to the market participants/investors, whereby they could trade in the ready market by pre-arranging financing from the banks.