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The Secondary Markets Advisory Committee (SMAC), appointed by market regulator SEBI, has agreed on a number of proposals including raising the capital adequacy ratio of a stockbroker from around ₹50 lakh (base minimum capital) to ₹1 crore, hiking the minimum net worth criteria for stockbrokers to ₹1 crore from ₹10 lakh on the BSE, and upping the net worth of trading-cum-clearing members to ₹25 crore. It has been nearly a decade that SEBI has kept the net worth criteria for brokers so low. The regulator now believes that it should be hiked so that there is some check on the quality of brokers being given registration. Also, SEBI will hike both capital adequacy and net worth of a broker further and link it with the maximum leverage they can be given. The committee, which met on Thursday, was divided over reducing the settlement cycle to T+1 as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are strongly against the move. Simply put, if you bought or sold stocks today, the settlement involving final money payment and transfer of shares is now done on the third day. For a few months now, SEBI has been deliberating on the idea of cutting down the settlement cycle to early morning of the next day of the trade.