Mumbai, April 25 (IANS). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called for major changes in the KYC (Know Your Customer) process. He urged SEBI i.e. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to take steps towards making KYC easy and uniform across the financial system.
Speaking at the 38th Foundation Day event of SEBI, the Finance Minister said that there should be a KYC system which is simple, secure and works on every platform.
He said that the present system creates problems for the people, because they have to give the same documents and information again and again at different places.
Emphasizing that this work should be done quickly, the Finance Minister said that a common system should be prepared in collaboration with the Financial Stability and Development Council and other regulators.
He clearly said that no citizen should do KYC repeatedly on different platforms.
The Finance Minister also said that in view of the rapidly changing financial market, changes in the rules are necessary. He said that now regulation should be made keeping in mind the possible risks in advance, not just after the problem arises.
He termed misuse of artificial intelligence, international financial fraud and increasing cyber threats as major challenges.
The Finance Minister said that in future the rules should be based on principles instead of being too strict and complex, so that innovation is encouraged and the interests of investors are also protected.
He suggested that while making new rules, public opinion should be taken so that balanced and flexible rules can be prepared.
Earlier this month, the Finance Minister had said that India’s strong economic condition and good foreign exchange reserves give more flexibility in policies to the Reserve Bank of India.
Addressing the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy on April 6, he had said that India has enough capacity to continue government spending (capex), cut interest rates and provide support to affected sectors, which is the result of fiscal discipline over the last ten years.
–IANS
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