The First International Conference on Securities Markets of NISM was held in Mumbai in December 2008. This conference presented a forum for researchers to present their findings on varied aspects of securities markets. The theme of the conference was “Structure, Microstructure and Regulation of Securities Markets”. The conference papers have been selected through a global competitive process by an international committee of distinguished researchers, chaired by Prof. Pradeep Yadav and 16 papers were selected from a total of 70 submissions received.

The conference was inaugurated by Mr C B Bhave, Chairman, SEBI. and The key note speech by Prof Robert Engle, the winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for economics, was the highlight of this event. The conference featured seven technical sessions on a number of sub-themes, including Regulation of securities markets covering issues related to short-selling, hedge funds, IPOs and price limits; Issues of liquidity in debt and secondary markets and collateral securities; and also microstructure issues like pre-trade transparency and measurement of informed trading. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on a topical issue, Financial Crisis: Causes, Consequences and Cures. On 21st December, NISM organized a research workshop for researchers and young faculty members.

The speakers at the workshop are eminent scholars in respective areas and their presentation covered the status of research, methodologies in vogue, data sources and methodological issues. The research workshop themes were on collateral, regulation and liquidity; liquidity and asset pricing; market microstructure; and law, institutions and corporate finance.