The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has sought crucial information from more than 15 brokers, including some of the leading intermediaries, in a bid to know the locations from where equity derivative orders were placed between January 2020 and March 2022. Notably, the exchange witnessed an abnormal jump in futures and options trade volumes, and on-boarding of new clients by most brokerages during the Covid-19 pandemic months, a newspaper report has said.

Further, the exchange has asked the member brokers to disclose the know-your-customer (KYC) details and ledgers of their clients, ID of devices used to place the trade orders, IP addresses and the media access control (or MAC) address, which is a unique number found in all internet-ready devices, including mobile phones, the Economic Times reported, citing two people aware of the development who refused to be identified.