FSDC not a super regulator: Pranab

The government today said the proposed Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), an inter-regulatory agency headed by the finance minister, would not act as a super regulator.

“I would like to emphasise that FSDC is not a super regulator. It would achieve its mandate without undermining the autonomy of the regulators,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at the Reserve Bank of India’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

In the current Budget, Mukherjee announced the establishment of two bodies — FSDC and Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). Today, he emphasised that FSDC would do only what was not currently being done in the existing set-up.

“The council (FSDC) would help us focus on developmental, regulatory coordination and stability issues in a holistic manner. We are looking at the exact structure of the proposed council. We shall soon put a paper in the public domain on the subject,” he said.

Regarding the formation of FSLRC, the Finance Minister said the proposed body would rewrite and clean up the financial sector laws to make them relevant with current requirements.

“The larger the number of laws, the higher is the scope for inconsistency among them and the possibility of regulatory gaps and overlaps. This has also created some disharmony among the regulators and confusion for the market participants,” said Mukherjee.