Rajeev Agarwal to oversee commodities at Sebi

'Agarwal supervised the merger, ensuring Sebi retained the main characteristic of the commodity market regulator'

Rajeev Kumar Agarwal, whole-time member, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), will be in charge of commodity derivatives as the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) is set to merge with Sebi.

According to sources, a formal announcement will be made on Monday, mak-ing Agarwal in-charge of commodities under the overall supervision of Sebi chairman.

This is likely to be welcomed by market particip-ants, as Agarwal has wide exp-erience as member, FMC. He joined Sebi in 2007 on dep-utation from the income tax department.

Sources said, “Agarwal was involved in the pre-merger process as well. He supervised the merger, ensuring Sebi retained the main characteristic of the commodity market regulator.”

On Monday morning before the commodity markets open, finance minister Arun Jaitley will unveil the regulations for commodity derivatives under Sebi.

Nationwide online commodity futures were first permitted in 2003 and ground rules laid down between 2005 and 2008. Things were evolving and Agarwal was responsible for preparing the policies. He spent a crucial time at FMC during this period.

When the government decided to hand over commodity derivatives to Sebi, the biggest issue for the equity regulator was delivery-based settlement, especially in agricultural commodities.