Be alert on supervision; deepen commodity markets: Jaitley to Sebi

New Delhi: Asking Sebi to be alert on market supervision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday asked the regulator to take steps to expand investor base and deepen the commodity derivatives segment.

Addressing the Sebi board, Jaitley also said the passage of new Aadhaar law would help in expanding investor base in securities market via KYC (Know Your Client) simplification by greater use of technology.

Ahead of an important board meeting, where Sebi decided to choke fund-raising avenues for wilful defaulters among other key decisions, Jaitley also appreciated the emergence of mutual funds in the country as a 'counter-balance' to foreign portfolio investors.

In his customary post-Budget meeting with Sebi, Jaitley interacted with the board members and other senior officials of the market regulatory authority. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and other top officials of Finance Ministry.

Talking to reporters later, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman UK Sinha said Jaitley was apprised of the major recent trends and the emerging external risks in the securities market.

Jaitley advised "Sebi to remain alert on the supervision of markets keeping in mind the impact of global developments". He also underlined the need for new products in the commodity derivatives segment and encouraging actual hedgers to take benefits of this market. Sebi began regulating commodities markets late last year after the merger of the erstwhile Forward Markets Commission with it.

Jaitley also appreciated the role of National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) and its upcoming campus at Patalganga in Maharashtra.

The Minister said apart from preparing and training manpower for the securities market, the NISM may also provide the courses for legal professionals in the securities market in the areas of regulation and compliance.

Besides Sinha, other Sebi board members present at the meeting included Tapan Ray, Arun Sathe, Prashant Saran, Rajeev Kumar Agarwal and S Raman. Besides, executive directors and other senior Sebi officials were also present.