
Physical settlement of derivatives means that on the day of settlement, if a trader has an open position, then he has to take the delivery of the shares. Right now, it is settled in cash. What this means is that right now, when you have an open position in derivative of a stock, long or short, you settle the MTM in cash.
What is the physical settlement in stock options?
The physical settlement means if you hold a position in any Stock F&O contract, at expiry, you will be required to give/take delivery of stocks. The physical settlement is restricted only to stock derivatives. Physical settlement of index options is not applicable. Index contracts are cash-settled only.
What is Zerodha's policy on physical settlement of equity derivatives on expiry?
What is Zerodha's policy on the physical settlement of equity derivatives on expiry? All stock F&O contracts on Indian exchanges are compulsory delivery⁶. So if you hold any stock future contract or any stock option contract which is In The Money (ITM) post expiry, you will be required to give or take delivery of the underlying stock².
What is the concept of physical settlement in equity derivatives?
The concept of physical settlement in equity derivatives was introduced by SEBI in July 2018 and made mandatory from October 2019 expiry onwards all the stocks. F&O physical settlement was introduced because Indian derivatives markets are one of the most speculative markets in the world.
What is the settlement time for derivatives contracts?
No physical settlement of derivatives contracts shall be permitted. All open positions in the above contracts will be squared-off ONE day prior to the expiry at 2:30 p.m. by the Upstox RMS team.

What is physical settlement in derivatives?
What is physical settlement? In an F&O contract, when there is an open position that has not been squared off by its expiry date, physical settlement takes place. This implies they have to physically give/take delivery of stocks to settle the open transactions instead of settling them with cash.
What is physical delivery in derivative trading?
Physical delivery is a term in an options or futures contract which requires the actual underlying asset to be delivered upon the specified delivery date, rather than being traded out with offsetting contracts.
What are settlements of derivatives?
Settlement price refers to the price at which an asset closes or of which a derivatives contract will reference at the end of each trading day and/or upon its expiration. The settlement price will be determined on the settlement date of a particular contract.
What is the difference between cash settlement and physical settlement?
Cash settlement is an arrangement under which the seller in a contract chooses to transfer the net cash position instead of delivering the underlying assets whereas physical settlement can be defined as a method, under which the seller opts to go for the actual delivery of an underlying asset and that too on a pre- ...
What is physical settlement of stock?
In a physical settlement, the seller has to physically deliver the stocks to the buyer at the end of the expiration date. In a physical settlement, the following transactions take place: Taking Delivery: As a buyer, you take the delivery of the stocks after the expiration date.
Can futures be physically settled?
For the period up to the last trading day, the Commodity Futures Contracts (physical settlement) are settled through offsetting purchase or sale. * There will be a payment/receipt of the mark-to-market differences during the period from the trade execution to the settlement.
What is the difference between clearing and settlement?
Clearing involves network operators routing messages and other information among financial institutions to facilitate payments between payers and payees. Interbank settlement is the discharge of obligations that arise in connection with faster payments either in real-time or on a deferred schedule.
What is the process of settlement?
Settlement is the process of paying the remaining sale price and becoming the legal owner of a home. At settlement, your lender will disburse funds for your home loan and you'll receive the keys to your home. Generally, settlement takes place around 6 weeks after contracts are exchanged.
What are physically settled FX forwards?
FX Forwards are defined in Article 27 of the EU Margin Regulation as “physically settled OTC derivative contracts that solely involve the exchange of two different currencies on a specific future date at a fixed rate agreed on the trade date of the contract covering the exchange.”
How are options physically settled?
With a physical settlement, the trade completes with the transfer of the underlying asset from the seller to the buyer. A call option holder exercises the option on a specific stock. The options seller must then sell the stock to the buyer of the options at the strike price.
Who Delivers Notice of Physical settlement?
Notice of Physical Settlement means a notice from the Calculation Agent to the Issuer containing a detailed description of the Deliverable Obligations that the Calculation Agent will Deliver to the Issuer on the Physical Settlement Date, provided that the Calculation Agent may notify the Issuer that it is changing one ...
What is physical delivery margin?
The physical delivery risk Margins required are a minimum of 40% of the contract value for futures on the last day of expiry. For in the money long or buy option positions, a delivery margin is assigned from 4 days before expiry.
What does it mean cash settlement and physical delivery?
In the case of physical delivery, the holder of the contract will either have to take the commodity from the exchange or produce the commodity. However, cash settlement does not involve any delivery of assets, but just net cash is settled on contract expiration.
Do futures contracts require physical delivery?
Most often, the trader will simply pay or receive a cash settlement depending on whether the underlying asset increased or decreased during the investment holding period. In some cases, however, futures contracts will require physical delivery.
What is compulsory physical delivery Zerodha?
All stock F&O contracts on Indian exchanges are compulsory delivery⁶. So if you hold any stock future contract or any stock option contract which is In The Money (ITM) post expiry, you will be required to give or take delivery of the underlying stock².
Can derivatives be settled?
No physical settlement of derivatives contracts shall be permitted.
Is physical settlement compulsory in SEBI?
SEBI has decided that physical settlement of stock derivatives will now be compulsory and implemented in different phases. As per SEBI’s guidelines, NSE’s circular mentions 46 stocks which will be settled through compulsory physical delivery. If you hold a position in any of these contracts on the expiry date, you will have to give/take delivery of the stocks.
Why did Sebi move?
The Sebi move is aimed at curbing excessive speculation, which creates too much volatility in the market. Under physical settlement, traders will have to compulsorily take delivery of shares on the expiry day against their derivative positions.
Is the Indian market speculative?
Indian market is considered one of the most speculative in the world. On a cash mkt turnover to derivative mkt turnover ratio basis, D-St has the highest level. Market regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on Monday issued the much-awaited framework for making physical settlement of stock derivatives mandatory.
Does physical delivery reduce short selling?
Physical delivery could also reduce short selling. Short sellers will now have to first borrow stocks under the SLB (securities lending and borrowing) mechanism, which allows borrowing of securities from institutional investors. But that space still remains shallow in India.
How is physical delivery settlement done?
The physical delivery settlement process is coordinated and settled via a clearing broker or a clearing agent. If the contract holder opts to take a short position, they are responsible for the physical delivery of the commodity. If the holder opts to take a long position, they will be taking, i.e., receiving physical delivery of the commodity.
What is cash settlement?
Cash settlement is the more simple and convenient mode of settlement, as it only involves the upfront net cash amount as the total cost. Settlement transactions do not come with additional costs or fees. Finally, cash settlement is one of the prime reasons for the increased entry of speculators in the derivatives market.
Why is a future contract called a derivative?
It’s also known as a derivative because future contracts derive their value from an underlying asset. Investors may purchase the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at a later date for a predetermined price. can be either of the following two methods: 1. Cash Settlement. The cash settlement method of settling commodities does not involve ...
Why is cash settlement the most popular method of settlement?
Also, cash settlement is the more popular method of settlement because of the liquidity#N#Liquidity In financial markets, liquidity refers to how quickly an investment can be sold without negatively impacting its price. The more liquid an investment is, the more quickly it can be sold (and vice versa), and the easier it is to sell it for fair value. All else being equal, more liquid assets trade at a premium and illiquid assets trade at a discount.#N#it brings to the market.
What is the method of settling commodities?
1. Cash Settlement. The cash settlement method of settling commodities does not involve the physical delivery of the asset (s) under consideration. It instead involves the settlement of net cash on the settlement date. Cash settlement involves the purchaser or the contract holder to pay the net cash amount on the settlement date and execute ...
What is physical delivery?
Physical delivery involves a number of additional costs, including delivery costs, transportation costs, brokerage fees, and so on.
What is Zerodha's policy on the physical settlement of equity derivatives on expiry?
F&O positions held till expiry used to be settled in cash on the basis of price of the underlying stock. However, since October 2019 the settlement takes place by giving or taking delivery of the actual shares. You can check the framework followed for physical settlement in this SEBI circular .
How long after expiration can you sell stock in demat?
Stocks received by means of physical settlement can only be sold after receiving delivery of stock in the demat account (2 working days after expiry).
What happens if you hold shares in your demat account?
If you hold the shares in your demat account, such shares will be debited towards meeting the Exchange settlement obligation.
What happens if you don't hold shares in Demat?
If you hold the shares in your demat account, such shares will be debited towards meeting the Exchange settlement obligation. If you don’t hold the shares in your demat account, you wouldn’t be able to deliver the shares towards the physical delivery obligation, resulting in short delivery.
How to calculate quantity to be delivered?
Quantity to be delivered/received = Market lot * Number of contracts that result in delivery settlement
Do you have to have funds equivalent to receive delivery of shares?
All positions that result in you receiving delivery of shares will require you to have funds equivalent:
Does F&O have margins?
Since most people trading F&O usually have just a small portion of the overall contract value blocked as margins (Futures and Short Options) or premium (Long calls & puts), the actual obligation of taking or giving delivery can be exponentially higher. This increases the risk for brokerage firms significantly and results in higher margin requirements.

Computation of Settlement Obligation
timelines For Physical Settlement
- Physical settlement takes place on Expiry + 2 days. In case your securities obligation is at the receiving end, that means you would receive stock for which you would need to arrange for funds to pay to the exchange. In case your securities obligation stands at the delivery position, you would need to arrange for stock in your demat account for pay-in, for which you would receive fu…
Failure to Meet The Obligation of Physical Settlement
- In case the clearing member fails to meet either the fund/securities obligation, the exchange penalizes the clearing member as per the below which may be further passed on to the client. Hence one must understand the physical settlement process well.
Physical Settlement Example
- Let's say a trader has the following open positions in April 2020 expiry contracts as on End of Day of April Expiry Day. Basis the above open positions, below is the obligation calculation for securities and fund for each stock with comments.
Physical Settlement Zerodha
- Zerodha policyfor physical settlement follows stock exchange rules. As per Zerodha 'If you hold a position in any Stock F&O contract, at expiry, you will be required to give/take delivery of stocks.' They advise their customers to close the open F&O positions before expiry to avoid physical settlement.
Physical Settlement Upstox
- As per the Upstox policyfor physical settlement, users don't have the option to opt for a physical settlement. On expiry day, Upstox squares off all open positions at 2.30 pm, hence it doesn't qualify for a physical settlement. More resources: 1. Physical Settlement NSE FAQ documents - 1 & 2.