Government to implement Indian Financial Code

New Delhi: Emphasising the need for a stronger legislative regulatory framework, the government committed to bringing a new code for streamlining various regulations in the financial sector.

Indian Financial Code (IFC), suggested by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), lays out clear objectives for financial regulations. "There are some important recommendations of the FSLRC like the enactment of the IFC which is considered necessary for better governance and accountability. "It will be my endeavour to complete the ongoing process of consultations with all the stakeholders expeditiously on this," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his Budget 2014-15 speech. Noting that the financial sector is at the heart of growth engine, the minister said it was essential to strengthen and modernise the legislative regulatory framework.

The draft IFC sought to address present weaknesses of the country's financial system. The code focuses on the formal process through which the legislative, executive and judicial functions take place in financial regulators. Besides, it provides clear objectives for financial regulation where government intervention is required and the areas include consumer protection, systemic risk reduction, debt management, capital controls and micro-prudential regulation. FSLRC submitted its report to the government in March 2013.