Search on for new FMC chief

The ministry in an advertisement on FMC website invited applications in suitable format from aspirants

With Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Chairman Ramesh Abhishek’s term coming to an end in June, the union ministry of finance has started scouting for a new chief for the commodity derivatives markets regulator. In an advertisement on the FMC website, the ministry has invited applications in this regard.

It has been proposed the post will be filled on deputation basis, with the possibility of extension. Earlier, candidates for the post could be aged up to 62; this time, the ministry has relaxed the limit to 65. The ministry has also set a minimum service period for suitable candidates in ‘group A’—-25 years. The selection will be carried out a search-cum-selection committee constituted by the department of economic affairs. Abhishek, a Bihar cadre, 1982 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service and an alumnus of Harvard Business School, was appointed an FMC member, before getting elevated as interim chairman, replacing B C Khatua. In 2011, he was appointed chairman.

After investigations pointed to negligence in the Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis at National Spot Exchange Ltd, Abhishek had said Jignesh Shah, chief of Financial Technologies (promoter of NSEL), and Shah’s aides Joseph Massey and Shreekant Javalgekar were “not fit and proper” to run an exchange.