Sebi, the overseer of the capital markets, declared that all contracts for equity derivatives on all exchanges would only expire on Tuesdays or Thursdays. By doing this, you might maximize the interval between expirations and avoid using the first or last day of the week as the expiration date. Exchanges will now seek their approval prior to beginning or changing any contract expiry or settlement date, per Sebi’s circular.

In the multi-exchange system, spreading expiry dates over the course of a week reduces concentration risk and allows stock exchanges to distinguish their offerings for market participants.

“At the same time, too many expiry days have the potential to revive expiry day hyperactivity, which could jeopardize investor protection and market stability,” Sebi said.

Consequently, all stock derivative contracts of an exchange will have consistent expiry dates that are limited to Tuesday or Thursday, according to Sebi.

Furthermore, all equity derivatives products will be made available with a minimum duration of one month, including benchmark index futures and options contracts, benchmark index options contracts, non-benchmark index futures and options contracts, and single stock futures and options contracts. The last day of each month, which is the last Tuesday or Thursday, is when the contracts will expire.

In order to operationalize the framework, Sebi asked stock exchanges to submit their suggestions by June 15.

Sebi recommended that all stock futures contracts on all exchanges be universally limited to expiry on Tuesdays or Thursdays in a consultation published earlier in March.

In response to the consultation document, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) delayed its plan to shift the expiry date of all index and stock derivatives from Thursday to Monday until further notice. All index and stock derivative contracts would have been rescheduled from Thursday to Monday when the move was set to take effect on April 4, 2025.