The purpose of appointing a market maker in an SME IPO is to provide genuine two-way liquidity by continuously offering both buy and sell quotes, thereby facilitating fair price discovery.
In the case of Millworks, however, the trading pattern raises serious questions. For an extended period, the market maker, PACE Stock Broking Services, appears to have been predominantly buying shares rather than providing meaningful two-way quotes. If the market maker is largely accumulating shares instead of actively selling as well, can this still be considered true market making?
Based on publicly available data, brokers have collectively accumulated approximately 17.2 lakh shares, while the designated market maker reportedly holds around 12 lakh shares. This means that nearly 21 lakh shares are concentrated with brokers and the market maker.
This creates a significant concern for retail investors. If such a large inventory is accumulated at lower prices and is eventually released into the market after valuations have risen substantially, retail participants could effectively become the exit liquidity by purchasing those shares at much higher prices.
This raises several important questions:
Where is the "two-way" quoting that market makers are expected to provide?
Is prolonged one-sided accumulation by a market maker consistent with the spirit and objective of the SME market-making framework?
How does this contribute to fair and efficient price discovery?
What safeguards exist to ensure that retail investors are not disadvantaged by such trading patterns?
These are legitimate questions that deserve clear answers from the exchange and the regulator. Investor confidence depends not only on compliance with the letter of the rules but also on adherence to the principles of transparency, fairness, and orderly markets. If market making effectively becomes prolonged accumulation followed by distribution at significantly higher prices, it risks undermining confidence in the integrity of the SME market.
Now suddenly on one fine day everything will be given to normal retail at higher valiations
@SEBI_India@BSEIndia@NSEIndia@PMOIndia
#millworks