STATEMENT OF FINANCE MINISTER REPORTING PROGRESS ON THE ACTION
TAKEN PURSUANT TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE ON STOCK MARKET SCAM
I am glad to submit
to the House, a progress report on the action pursuant to the
JPC recommendations. The JPC had submitted its report on 19.12.2002.
The Action Taken Report (ATR) was presented on 9th
May, 2003 i.e., well within the period of 6 months. As desired
by the JPC, Government will continue to submit periodic reports
! of action taken, at 6-monthly intervals until full satisfaction
of the Parliament.
2. Government has
greatly benefited from the JPC’s deliberations and expresses its
gratitude to the Committee for its wide-ranging and valuable suggestions.
While certain legislative measures such as the amendment of SEBI
Act, and repeal of UTI Act, have already come into effect, other
proposals like the amendment to the Securities Contract (Regulations)
Act for ensuring demutualization and corporatisation of stock
exchanges and amendment of the Banking Regulations Act for better
regulation of Cooperative Banks are before the Parliament.
3. Government is
also considering bringing about other legislations like the Companies
Law (Amendment) Bill and Government Securities Bill, 2003.
4. Between the last
Action Taken Report and the present one, a number of measures
have been taken which include setting up of additional institutional
mechanisms to keep a regular watch on the financial markets, establishment
of a coordination mechanism with regulators and investigating
agencies, reference to SEBI regarding the secondary market investment
decisions of UTI in 89 companies identified by Tarapore Committee,
setting up of Serious Frauds Investigation Office etc. While some
recommendations pend for want of legislative mandates, other can
be implemented only after the current investigations or judicial
proceedings in Courts of Law are completed. Government is monitoring
developments on a continuous basis and there has been good progress
in the ongoing investigations. It shall be our endeavour to see
that wherever any action is pending, it is most expeditiously
completed.
