Investor interest priority: Khursheed

NEW DELHI: Minister of state for corporate affairs (independent charge) Salman Khursheed said the government will protect small investors by ensuring transparency in the working of the corporate sector.

���Our concern will be the aam aadmi. The priority for the government is to give protection to every investor. The buzzwords for the government are transparency and accountability,��� Mr Khursheed said.

Highlighting the need for a robust corporate sector to enable India to go ahead with economic reforms, he said getting parliamentary approval for the new company law tops the government���s agenda.

Mr Khursheed, who is entrusted with the unenviable task of restoring the credibility of India���s corporate sector after the Satyam scandal exposed corporate governance in India, said a lot of work has already gone into the Companies Bill, 2008, and it should not see any major delay.

���We should be able to take it (the Bill) as it is,��� the minister said.

The Bill, which has already seen over four years of activity behind its formulation, will now have to be cleared by the Cabinet once again before being approved by Parliament.

On the Satyam fiasco, Mr Khursheed said, ���The Satyam issue has been handled very diligently and soon you will see the company being guided into what we call the Shivam and Sundaram areas.���

On the investigation front, he said with the Serious Frauds Investigation Office���s (SFIO) probe completed, the ministry has asked it to chalk out a strategy for prosecution of the offenders in co-ordination with CBI.

���But my perception is that SFIO has some limitations,��� he said, referring to the lack of powers for the office, which comes in the way of searching, seizing and interrogating suspects.

Terming his assignment as a ���challenging task���, Mr Khursheed said the government will try to take steps to ensure that financial crimes and offences are stopped.