Chidambaram asks SEBI to address issues of SROs, intermediaries

Mumbai, Oct 6 (UNI) Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to address various issues relating to Self-Regulatory Organisations (SRO) and intermediaries.

Speaking on the occasion of the inauguration of 'SEBI Bhawan' here today, he said that disclosure of intermediaries was an important issue before the investors today which was possible only when the intermediaries became members of the SROs. It further required SROs to get themselves registered with SEBI.

''However I believe that there is no SRO which would have registered itself with SEBI,'' he said.

It was despite the fact that few SROs like Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) and Association of Merchant Bankers of India (AMBI) were already in existence in the country sans getting registered with SEBI, he added.

The Finance Minister said if done in a proper way, more and more investors would come forward to put their money in the capital market of the country.

Mr Chidambaram said there were three driving forces behind the growth of the Indian capital markets that were financial liberalisation, technological changes and above all, quality manpower it was blessed with.

Today, the task before SEBI was to convert every man and woman investor as the investors in the country's capital market, he said.

On the one side, there were retail investors that often got scared by the flexibility of the market, while on the other, there were irrational investors who were ready to rob the capital market with their capitalist devices. Hence, SEBI should remain vigilant on the issue, he added .

On the significance of the capital market, Mr Chidambaram said: ''Without capital markets, we would have a country with only savers.

But it was the market that opened the way for both savers as well as investors.'' ''Unless each and every saver in the country turns into an investor in the capital market, we can not achieve the high level of investments,'' he reiterated.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 'SEBI Bhawan' in the presence of Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan, Reserve Bank of India Governor Dr Y V Reddy, Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

SEBI chairman M Damodaran said, ''There is value for all the stakeholders in a well-regulated market and it has finally helped us perform our duty well.'' ''We will make the Indian capital market a market of choice for all the investors to put their money here,'' he added.

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