Action must be taken to mitigate any vulnerability and strengthen financial stability, says Sitharaman
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has told regulators to be proactive and ensure cyber-security preparedness of the information technology systems to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks, protect sensitive financial data, and maintain overall system integrity, thus safeguarding the stability and resilience of the Indian financial ecosystem.
This was part of the call she made on the regulators, telling them to maintain a constant vigil as ensuring ‘financial sector stability is their shared responsibility’.
She says appropriate and timely action must be taken to mitigate any vulnerability and strengthen financial stability.
Regulators should adopt a focused approach to reduce the compliance burden further and ensure a streamlined and efficient regulatory environment, she said at the 27th Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on 8 May 2023 which was held for the first time after the announcement of the Budget 2023-24.
The Minister is to review progress achieved in this regard with each regulator in June 2023.
Regulators should conduct a special drive to facilitate the settlement of unclaimed deposits and claims in the financial sector across all segments, such as banking deposits, shares and dividends, mutual funds, insurance, etc.
Action Taken Report on Budget announcements made since 2019 was discussed.
A focused approach should be adopted by the regulators to implement the announcements made in the Budget 2023-24, for which timelines were also decided.
During the meeting of the Council, it was discussed that the policy and legislative reform measures required to further develop the financial sector may be formulated and implemented expeditiously to not only increase the financial access of the people, but also increase their overall economic well-being.
The Council, inter alia, also deliberated on Early Warning Indicators for the economy and our preparedness to deal with them, Reducing Compliance Burden on the regulated entities in the financial sector by Improving Regulatory Quality, Debt Levels of Corporates and Households in India, Simplification and Streamlining of KYC Framework to meet the needs of Digital India, Seamless Experience for Retail Investors in Government Securities, Bimakrit Bharat – Unique Value Proposition to take insurance to last mile, and support required in terms of resolving inter-regulatory issues for GIFT IFSC to play strategic role in Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The Council also took note of the activities undertaken by the FSDC Sub-Committee chaired by the RBI Governor and the action taken by members on the past decisions of the FSDC. fiinews.com
