MUMBAI, Jan. 31 -- India's market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Gift City regulator International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) are aiming to sign information-sharing agreements with Europe's securities watchdog within the next 60 days, a step that could allow five Indian clearing houses to seek re-recognition by the European Union, two people aware of the discussions told Mint. The move follows the EU's financial markets regulator European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) signing an agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 27 January on information sharing. While SEBI will soon announce its deal with ESMA, IFSCA expects its pact to be finalized within one to two months, senior officials of the respective regulators said. In October 2022, ESMA withdrew recognition of six Indian clearing houses-Clearing Corp of India Ltd, Indian Clearing Corp Ltd, India International Clearing Corp Ltd, NSE Clearing Ltd, NSE IFSC Clearing Corp Ltd, and Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing Corp Ltd-after a prior agreement with Indian regulators expired. The decision was later deferred until 30 April 2023. The derecognition threatened to raise costs for European banks that use these clearing houses for their trades. A new agreement would allow these clearing houses to reapply. "We have already discussed with ESMA and sent a proposal to the government. We expect a similar resolution as the RBI.The government will review our proposal and it should happen maybe within 1-2 months time," a senior IFSCA official said on condition of anonymity. An email sent to SEBI and IFSCA did not elicit any response till press time. Experts said European banks are likely to benefit through easier settlement of trades. "While this may not immediately translate into a surge in foreign portfolio inflows, it should meaningfully ease operational and settlement procedures for European banks and other global participants," Soumyajit Niyogi, director at India Ratings and Research. While one clearing house-Clearing Corporation of India-falling under the ambit of RBI can now reapply, the other five, since they fall outside its jurisdiction, will have to wait for their regulators to reach similar arrangements. "Other Indian central clearing counterparties (CCPs), supervised either by Sebi or IFSCA, will only be able to re-apply once ESMA and their relevant authorities conclude similar MoUs. ESMA is however currently in discussions with these authorities with the aim of reaching similar agreements than with the RBI," a spokesperson for ESMA said in response to an emailed query. Emails sent to all six clearing houses did not receive any response till press time....