New law to protect gullible investors will be introduced: Jaitley

New Delhi: The central government would soon bring in a law to protect poor and gullible investors from unscrupulous players floating illegal deposit schemes, said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday. Presenting the Budget for 2017-18, Jaitley said the government will be taking series of measures as a part of reforms in the financial sector and to build stable and stronger institutions. He said the draft bill to curtail the menace of illicit deposit schemes will be introduced in the Parliament shortly after its finalisation. "There is an urgent need to protect the poor and gullible investors from another set of dubious schemes, operated by unscrupulous entities who exploit the regulatory gaps in the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002," he said. Jaitley said the government will amend this Act in consultation with various stakeholders, as part of its 'Clean India' agenda.

He also said the government would bring in The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2016 or the bankruptcy bill for financial firms in the current Budget session. "This will contribute to stability and resilience of our financial system. It will also protect the consumers of various financial institutions. Together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, a resolution mechanism for financial firms will ensure comprehensiveness of the resolution system in our country," Jaitley said. With more than 90 per cent of the foreign direct investment (FDI) is through automatic route, Jaitley said the government would abolish the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) next fiscal and the road map for the same will be announced soon. "In the meantime, further liberalisation of FDI policy is under consideration and necessary announcements will be made in due course," he added. On the reforms to benefit the farmers, he said an expert committee will be constituted to study and promote creation of operational and legal framework to integrate spot market and derivatives market for commodities trading.