FSDC reconstituted to include more members

NEW DELHI: The government has reconstituted the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the apex body of financial sector regulators, and made it more broad-based.

The council, headed by the finance minister, will now include the minister of state responsible for the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), currently P Radhakrishnan. The secretary of Department of Electronics and Information Technology also becomes a member, given the importance the government gives to digital transactions and issues of data privacy.

The government announced the changes to the FSDC in a gazette notification.

The reconstituted FSDC will include the chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the revenue secretary.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley is recuperating after a kidney transplant. Railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal has temporary charge of the finance ministry.

Other members of the FSDC, which was constituted in December 2010, are the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, chief of Securities and Exchange Board of India, finance secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, secretary, financial services, secretary, chief economic adviser and chairpersons of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

The revenue secretary was included after the roll out of the goods and tax services and measures to check tax evasion.

Data protection has emerged as a serious issue given the extensive use of Aadhaar in financial inclusion.

The FSDC was set up to create an institutional structure and mechanism for financial stability, financial sector development and inter-regulatory coordination. It is charged with financial literacy, financial inclusion and macro prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates. Since 2010, the FSDC has held 18 meetings, with the latest on December 29.