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A nod from the Prime Minister's Office to shift the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) from the consumer affairs department to the finance ministry is just a matter of days away, though the file in this regard is yet to be signed.
“It is on the cards. The a decision has not been taken,” a government official said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in St Petersburg, Russia, to take part in a two-day G-20 Leadership Summit from Thursday.
The finance ministry has been pushing for bringing FMC under it in order to investigate the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) crisis.
The consumer affairs ministry has, it appears, conveyed its consent to the PMO to shift FMC to the finance ministry’s charge. The Cabinet secretariat is also apparently of the view that commodity derivatives should be under the finance ministry, since these are financial products.
The other financial sector regulators — Securities and Exchange Board of India, Reserve Bank of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority — are all under the administrative control of the finance ministry.
Officials are also debating whether to keep FMC as a separate body or merge it with Sebi, the capital markets regulator, officials added.
The finance ministry has already formed a task force under economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram to look into the NSEL developments. The task force is assisted by two groups, which are required to give their reports by next week.
