Union Government notifies merger of FMC with SEBI

Highlights:

The government has notified the merger of commodities regulator Forward Market Commission with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
It will be effect from 28 September 2015.
As a result, of this notification FCRA,1952 will get repealed and regulation of commodity derivatives market will shift to SEBI under Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA) 1956 with effect from 28th September, 2015
A unified regulator for commodities and capital markets will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations.
The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) had recommended that Sebi, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC should be merged into a single entity into a unified financial agency (UFA).

What is Forward Markets Commission (FMC) ?

The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) is the chief regulator of commodity futures markets in India.
As of July 2014, it regulated Rs 17 trillion worth of commodity trades in India
It is headquartered in Mumbai and this financial regulatory agency is overseen by the Ministry of Finance.
The Commission allows commodity trading in 22 exchanges in India, of which 6 are national
In the wake of a Rs 5,500-crore payment crisis at the National Spot Exchange Ltd, FMC was brought under Finance Ministry in 2013.
In the beginning, FMC was only regulating regional commodity exchanges and its role was expanded after the emergence of national electronic trading platform in early 2000.