ASM List in India: Stages, Margins and Checks

What the ASM List Actually Is

The ASM list names securities placed under Additional Surveillance Measure, an exchange framework for market-surveillance concerns. Inclusion can change margin funding, price bands or settlement requirements. It is not proof of misconduct or a recommendation. Check the current exchange list, the applicable framework and the notice’s effective date.

The status can change through inclusion, stage movement or exit. Check the current exchange list and the effective notice; there is no single fortnightly refresh rule covering every branch.

ASM and Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM) are separate surveillance frameworks. Neither label alone establishes misconduct or whether shares are suitable to buy.

ASM full form and how it differs from GSM

ASM stands for Additional Surveillance Measure. GSM stands for Graded Surveillance Measure. Both are exchange tools meant to protect investors when a share looks unusually risky, but they are separate lists with separate rules. A stock can be on one, both or neither.

Our entry on the GSM list explains the other framework. Being on either list is an exchange risk measure. It is not a finding about the company.

The Two ASM Formats: Long Term and Short Term

NSE’s ASM FAQ, updated 11 August 2026 and checked 16 October 2026, separates long-term and short-term treatment. It also has branches for derivative stocks and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Read the branch that applies to the security.

Actions can affect margins, price bands, position limits and settlement. A general mention of periodic auctions on a surveillance webpage does not mean every high ASM stage uses one.

Margin percentage must be read with its stated base. Full transaction-value margin differs from taking the full amount of an already-calculated risk margin. A margin deposit is not a maximum-loss cap.

How a stock gets shortlisted

The exchanges and SEBI use objective parameters to shortlist securities. The long-term framework looks at items such as the high-low price variation, client concentration, the number of price-band hits, close-to-close price variation, the price-to-earnings ratio and market capitalisation. One long-term entry test compares the three-month high-low variation with 150% plus the stock’s beta times the Nifty 50 variation. Beta is a measure of how strongly a stock has moved with the index.

You do not need to run these tests yourself. What matters in a journal is the date the stock was placed on the list and the stage it entered at, because margin and price-band changes start from the date in the notice.

What the stages do to margin and price bands

For ordinary cash shares, the long-term framework asks for 100% margin from the T+3 day (T is the day the stock is added; the notice states the exact date) at the first stage, with the price band cut to the next lower level at later stages. The highest long-term stage described in the framework adds gross settlement and a 5% price band. Gross settlement means each buy and sell settles on its own instead of being netted.

The short-term framework works differently. Its stages carry their own margins, and stocks stay in each stage for a minimum number of trading days before a review. The framework documents mention 5 or 15 trading days, but a review is not an automatic exit. If the stock still meets the entry criteria, it can stay.

ASM Stage Treatment: Read the Applicable Branch

The table gives an overview of different ASM branches. Gross settlement means purchases and sales settle separately rather than being offset. A price band limits permitted price movement. Read the current notice for the security’s exact requirements, start date and exit conditions.

Checking a Named Security

Use the current exchange list and dated notices to establish a stock’s inclusion and stage. This page does not assert unverified membership histories for named companies.

Do not infer eligibility or immunity from size, liquidity or an F&O listing. The current FAQ explicitly includes derivative stocks and their corresponding contracts under specified branches.

• Match the exact symbol and exchange.
• Read framework, stage and action dates.
• Check whether the underlying and derivative contracts have different treatment.
• Do not interpret an ASM tag as a buy or sell signal.

Where to find the ASM list and notices

NSE publishes the securities currently shortlisted as a downloadable file named List_of_securities_shortlisted_under_ASM.csv on its ASM regulations page. NSE usually issues the matching notice after market hours, typically one trading day before the change takes effect. Open the notice, not just a broker tag, and write down the stage and the effective date in your journal.

1. Download the current list and search for the exact symbol.
2. Read the latest notice for the stage and effective date.
3. Compare the notice with the margin shown by your broker.
4. Add the stage and date to the trade entry before you place the order.

Illustrative Funding and Price-Loss Example

Assume an unnamed stock priced at ₹60 and a purchase of 5,000 shares. Position value is ₹3,00,000. For a funding comparison only, assume a 20% requirement: ₹60,000. This is an invented requirement, not a broker offer or a named stock’s status.

If the assumed requirement becomes 100% of the position value, funding becomes ₹3,00,000. This does not by itself establish whether the trade can be netted intraday; read settlement restrictions separately.

Assume a later actual sale at ₹55.20. Sale value is ₹2,76,000 and gross price loss ₹24,000, before charges. The assumed price drop is 8%. This arithmetic does not claim such a move would be executable within a particular security’s price band or auction.

ASM and Derivative Stocks

NSE’s current FAQ includes long-term and short-term ASM branches for derivative stocks and corresponding futures and options. The stock-specific measures should not be confused with an index-option expiry rule or a separate market-wide-position-limit ban process.

A derivative stock’s margin or position limits can change under the applicable ASM branch. Do not describe every F&O contract as untouched, or assume the index contract’s lot size says anything about an ASM stock’s funding.

Margins on futures and options of ASM stocks

NSE extended the long-term ASM framework to derivative stocks and their futures and options contracts (circular NSE/SURV/63362, 9 August 2024, effective 12 August 2024). For the first list, circular NSE/SURV/63363 of the same date set the margin at 100% on the underlying share and 50% or the existing total margin, whichever is higher, on the F&O contracts, from 14 August 2024. Under the short-term framework, the margin on the corresponding F&O contracts is 50% at Stage 1 and 100% at Stage 2, or the existing total margin if that is higher. The notice for the particular stock decides what applies on a given date.

A worked funding example

Take an unnamed derivative stock with one futures lot worth ₹4,00,000 in contract value. If the margin were 20% of that value, you would block ₹80,000. If the measure raised it to 50%, you would need ₹2,00,000, which is ₹1,20,000 more. The lot value and the 20% are made up for this example. Check your broker’s margin screen for the real figure, since it adds exchange margins and broker rules on top.

Tax and Recordkeeping

An ASM tag does not provide an income-tax rate. Classification depends on the transaction and applicable law, so keep executions and settlement records.

Delivery treatment is not automatic proof that a position is a capital investment. Ask a qualified tax adviser to assess how the transactions should be reported.

• Record the security and actual trade dates.
• Retain the exchange action and broker margin notice.
• Reconcile charges and settlement with the contract note.

Common Misconceptions Traders Have

An ASM inclusion does not by itself establish adverse findings against a company. Assess business information separately from market-surveillance status.

A stock can remain under measures while criteria continue to apply. Exit is conditional; no quick release or fixed fortnightly removal is promised.

A Practical Checklist for Trading Around ASM

Check current status before an order and again when a notice changes the stage. Funding, settlement and available liquidity are distinct checks.

• Read the exchange list rather than relying only on a broker tag.
• Verify the effective date and relevant framework branch.
• Check actual margin and any change to price band or position limits.
• Confirm whether settlement is gross or net and what delivery requires.
• Retain the applicable notice; review conditions need not follow a universal fortnightly schedule.

What to record in a trade journal for an ASM stock

Trades in stocks under extra surveillance deserve extra notes, since the margin or settlement rule can change between entry and exit. A short record makes it clear later whether a loss came from the price, from a margin call or from a restriction you had not noticed.

• Stage and framework (long-term or short-term) on the entry date.
• Margin blocked at entry and any later increase.
• Whether the order was a cash or a derivative trade.
• Gap between your planned exit and the price you actually got.
• Whether the stock left or changed stage during the trade.

You can record these in the notes field of each trade in OneTradeJournal, which you fill by hand. For wider reading, see how circuit breakers and lower circuits can stop exits, and how the F&O ban list is a separate measure.

Where to Check Current ASM Status

Check the current NSE ASM list and notices. Related reading: order execution limits, share-delivery obligations and option premium risk.

Sources

• NSE: ASM parameters and current list (checked 16 Oct 2026)
• NSE: ASM FAQ updated August 2026 (checked 16 Oct 2026)