RBI locks horns with govt on set-up of data warehousing body -:- Equity Research

 

The government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have locked horns over the proposed set-up of a data warehousing body - Financial Data Management Centre (FDMC) - with the latter claiming it will reduce the independence of regulators, an article in Mint says . In the Union Budget this year, the government had proposed setting up FDMC as a statutory body facilitating integrated data collection for the financial sector. The RBI, however, is concerned that this will limit its ability to take corrective measures in case of systemic issues or market manipulation. "If a statutory body is created, then the regulators would not be independently in the position to collect raw data in its original format," sources told Mint. The issues were reportedly raised by the RBI at a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). The plan to set up the FDMC was first floated in 2014 by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission but back then it was to be set up as a non-statutory body to collect financial data and provide easy access to all regulators. Soon after, a task force was created to streamline the modalities and structure of FDMC. This currently gains significance as the RBI is already reeling under pressure to reveal data to track illicit money flow and names of loan defaulters.