The Hindu : Insider trading will be curbed, says FM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2003

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Insider trading will be curbed, says FM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC.1. The Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, today assured that all necessary steps would be taken to curb insider trading in the stock markets. Responding to suggestions made at the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his Ministry, he expressed the hope that in spite of limited resources available with the regulator, the human resources and technological powers of the Securities and Exchange Board of India would be augmented to keep pace with the expansion of its regulatory powers.

The committee met today to discuss the capital markets, according to an official release.

On the issue of corporate governance, he said the issue was not limited only to regulation but to a larger effort to put in place ethical practices. Reacting to suggestions by some members that the market must develop larger number of initial public offers, he agreed that there was need to add substantial volume to the market which he described as `thin.'

Regarding quarterly disclosure of financial results, he said it was a global practice in the interest of investors. The Finance Ministry has also commenced the practice of bringing out a quarterly review of the economy, he pointed out. The meeting was attended by the former Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, Nawal Kishore Rai, Parmeshwar Kumar Agarwalla, Abani Roy, Ashwani Kumar and Santosh Bagrodia.

The members of the committee lauded SEBI for 100 per cent dematerialisation and online trading. They also expressed satisfaction at the effective regulatory framework that was on a par with the best in the world and suggested that efforts should continue in this direction.

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