'Best Behind Us': Zerodha's Nithin Kamath Sees Slower Growth For Brokerages After 2024 Record Run

Zerodha Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Nithin Kamath on Thursday said that the brokerage industry in 2024 witnessed its best run, but the period ahead could be marked by slower growth.

Kamath added that the best is behind for the industry as the future and options activity has fallen due to stricter regulations by SEBI.

"Looking back, 2024 was probably the best year for the brokerage industry, and it's starting to look like the best is behind us, at least for the foreseeable future," Kamath said in a post on X.

Zerodha, in a blog, said that the future and options activities have dropped by 20%-30% on the exchanges across the country. This was after security market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India imposed stricter regulations.

Kamath said the drop comes even before the measures such as increased lot sizes have taken effect. "In terms of options turnover, we are back to 2022–23 levels," Kamath added.

The brokerage in its blog also said that while the fullest extent of these measures will be felt next year, it is likely that there will be a further dip in the F&O trading.

Sundararaman Ramamurthy, managing director and chief executive officer of BSE, told NDTV Profit in an interview that the impact of the regulator's crackdown on F&O trading will become clearer once all these measures are in place this year.

Premium quality will be in focus as a chunk of the exchange's income depends on it, Ramamurthy told NDTV Profit in a televised interview.

To put things in perspective, SEBI has come out with a bunch of regulations in October in a bid to curb excessive speculation in equity derivatives. The regulator rolled out new measures, including increasing the lot size and mandating the upfront collection of option premiums from buyers by trading members and clearing members.