PFRDA okay with ordinance, says watchdogs' autonomy safe

Disagreeing with the Reserve Bank, interim pension watchdog PFRDA today said that the autonomy of the regulators will not be encroached upon by a recent ordinance on resolving disputes over hybrid products.

"The Finance Minister has already said that the concerns of RBI will be addressed. He has assured that there is an inter-regulatory dispute resolution mechanism and the autonomy will not be disturbed, and I think we have to accept that," Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Yogesh Agarwal told PTI.

The government had, last month, ended a two-month-long turf war between insurance regulator Irda and capital market watchdog Sebi through an ordinance, making it clear that Ulips would be regulated by Irda.
    
The ordinance also provided for creating a high-level panel, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, that would sort out all issues of jurisdiction regarding hybrid products.
    
The Finance Secretary, Financial Services Secretary and the chiefs of four financial regulators -- Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda), Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA)-- will be the members of the committee.
    
Concerned over the dilution of the autonomy of regulators, RBI Governor D Subbarao had recently met the Finance Minister and asked the government to reconsider the ordinance.
    
"I have come to meet the Finance Minister in connection with the ordinance that they have issued regarding settlement of the dispute on regulatory jurisdiction. RBI has certain reservations and concerns, which we have expressed," Subbarao had said after the meeting.
    
Later, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified that the government would not "intervene in" the autonomy of regulators.
    
"The intentions are quite clear. We are not going to intervene in the autonomy of regulators," Mukherjee had said.