The Hindu Business Line : ‘FMC to be fully empowered soon’

Bangalore, Sept. 10 Empowering the ForwardMarket Commission (FMC) is expected to help commodity exchanges to decouple from the practices followed in the stock exchanges.

The FMC will become fully empowered like the stock market regulator SEBI, once the Forward Contract Regulation Amendment Bill, that is currently before Parliament is passed, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters after the launch of NCDEX Coffee Futures, Mr Ramesh said while all over the world, stock markets are distinct from the commodity markets, in our country, the stock market has promoted the commodity market. Citing the example of NSE owning 15 per cent stake in NCDEX, Mr Ramesh said people are concerned about the commodities market mainly because of the spillover of stock market practices into the commodities exchanges. “Also, we do not have a regulator, who is fully empowered,” he added.

Advocating the need to maintain an arm’s length between the stock exchanges and commodity exchanges, Mr Ramesh said the commodity futures market, in recent years, had become a subject of political controversy particularly after the wheat and dal prices have skyrocketed because of the entry of private players

The Abhijit Sen Committee on futures trading is expected to come out with its report in the next two to three weeks, he said.