Regulatory steps after stocks scam report: Jaswant

The Centre is waiting for the completion of investigations and the court verdicts in several cases related to the stocks scam of 2001 to implement the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh told the Lok Sabha today the government was monitoring the developments on a regular basis and there had been good progress in the investigations into the cases taken up by the government.

The JPC, which was tabled on December 19 last year in Parliament, had asked the government to file an action taken report (ATR) on it every six months till all the agenda mentioned in the report was cleared. The government had tabled its first ATR on May 9.

In a reply to the demands made by the Opposition, he said the government was ready for a debate on the scam. The minister also said the measures taken by the government after the submission of the JPC report included referring the secondary market transactions made by the Unit Trust of India in 89 companies as identified by the Tarapore committee to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the setting up of institutional mechanisms to keep a regular watch on the financial markets and the establishment of a coordinating mechanism with regulators and investigating agencies.

The other measures include the setting up of a Serious Frauds Investigation Office as an inter-disciplinary body. Singh said it would be his endeavour to see that pending action was completed quickly.

He said the amendment to the Securities Contract (Regulations) Act for the corporatisation of the bourses and the amendment of the Banking Regulations Act for better regulation of cooperative banks were pending in Parliament.