NBFCs finally set up SRO

Calls it Finance Industry Devp Council

The much awaited self-regulatory organisation for non-banking finance companies, christened Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), has finally been registered.

Mahesh Thakkar, chief co-ordinator, FIDC and executive director, Association of Leasing and Financial Services Companies (ALFSC) confirmed this information to Business Standard but refused to divulge any further.

Sources at the Reserve Bank of India, welcoming this registration, said, "This is good news for us. We have been coaxing the industry to do it for a while."

By end of March, the 12-member committee spearheading the institution of the SRO had managed to rally the participation of about 350 of the 728 NBFCs in operation in the country.

The Council is essentially crafted to monitor and streamline the small and medium NBFCs into a systemised code of conduct. But it will also have the participation of the big NBFCs.

Besides evolving and establishing a code of conduct for the industry, FIDC is also likely to offer some services to its members such drawing up a defaulters' list in tandem with the Indian Banks' Association and the proposed credit bureau.

Compilation of industry data is another area of work FIDC is slated to take on. Given the drubbing and flak the industry has drawn in the past, image building is another important task before the SRO.

The SRO will also slated to mark the coming together of the three existing associations in the industry, namely, the Equipment Leasing Association of India, Federation of Indian Hire Purchase Association and Association of Leasing and Financial Services Companies.