Will it happen again,Bank Strike on 18-20Aug 2008

Banks are doing on strike ,last time it resulted in market meltdown ,will it happen again?
Friday bank strike hits Sensex
Mumbai, Jan. 24: Investors, big and small, had a harrowing time on Thursday as several brokers refused to take buy orders because of the bank strike on Friday. A broker who did not want to identified said, “When the client pays us a cheque, the margin is directly debited to our account and goes straight to the exchange. Because of the bank strike on Friday, we will not be able to put in the cheques till Monday and will not be able to cash the client’s cheque till Wednesday. Since pay-in day is on Monday, we will not have the funds to pay up. So we are not accepting new orders.”
“This way the broker is funding the clients,” he said. Clients who in the bull phase placed orders recklessly at high prices are today giving buy orders at low prices and there are no sellers at these low prices. Some major brokerage houses were accepting orders only on cash payment by their clients. There were rumours that the National Stock Exchange had increased the margins by 40-100 per cent on some stocks. However, the exchange denied this and said, “Margins always vary on a daily basis since it is based on ‘Value at Risk’ (VAR).” However, National Stock Exchange clarified that it has not changed any margin computations and it continues to follow the same systems and procedures consistently. It is also clarified that NSE has not called for any additional margins.
The problem on Thursday was basically due to technical reasons. There are three aspects: Heavy outstanding position in the futures and options (F&O) sector, and the NSE is offloading shares of brokers who cannot pay-up; Banks, who have loaned money against shares, are also offloading shares and the bank strike. The failure or the reluctance of the exchanges to make public the names of brokers who have defaulted on payment is causing clients a lot of problems. An investor can give orders to such brokers unknowingly and the brokers accept and take the money and later say their terminal is closed.
This way the investor’s money is held up. There should be transparency in disclosing the names, said a leading broker. “When Sebi asks for transparency in all sectors, why not in this sector?” he asked. The rumours in the market on Thursday were that the default amount could be about Rs 500-600 crore. A big bull turned bear is said to be one of the defaulters who is being bailed out by the banks. Several terminals remained closed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. This was reflected in the low turnover on both the exchanges. The total was a mere Rs 63,009 crore with the F&O sector accounting for Rs 39,442 crore.