IFSCA is the abbreviation of International Financial Services Centres Authority, which provides the services to all the purchasers outside the local or domestic economy jurisdiction. This regulatory entity deals with the financial products, the flow of finances, and services across borders.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority was introduced under the supervision of the central government. Its primary purpose was to regulate all the International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) financial services with its headquarter in Gandhinagar (Gujarat).
Introduction about International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA)
Talking about IFSCA, it is deliberately engaged in providing all the Indian corporates with easy access to the global financial markets. It is also aiming to promote and complement the additional development in the financial market of India.
Different financial transactions or the services administered under the offshore financial centres by the Indian corporate entities or the overseas branches or even the subsidiaries of the Monetary Institutions are yet brought back by the ISFCA.
Few of the institutions that are part of it are banks or insurance companies. This is merely done by providing the regulatory and a complete business environment compared to the few more leading international financial centres located in Singapore and London. Moreover, businesses are conducted in the foreign currency and with few entities of both resident and non-resident levels.
What primary services does the IFSCA offer?
- Few fund-raising services for individuals, corporations, as well as governments.
- Management of assets and the global portfolio diversification supervised by the pension funds, insurance companies, and some mutual funds.
- Wealth management.
- Perform operations for the regional corporate treasury management involving fund-raising or liquidity investment.
- Undertake risk management operations, including insurance and reinsurance.
When was the first IFSCA started in India?
The first IFSCA was established in India at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar. This bill has applied to the IFSCAs set up using SEZ Act, 2005.
What are the main functions of IFSCA?
Now let’s talk about the core functions of the IFSCA regulatory entity:
- This financial authority entity is accountable for administering all the financial products previously approved by few other regulators such as RBI or SEBI. Few of the financial products included are deposits, securities, financial services, or monetary institutions.
- Under the specific law, it will also include all those fully applicable processes to financial services, products, or financial institutions. Within the Schedule Bill, a few of the listed regulators are IRDAI, RBI, PFRDA, and SEBI. This whole schedule can easily be amended under the supervision of the central government through an order or a notification.
- Few other functions included in the ISFCA entity regulate financial services, financial products, or institutions. But this regulation will be made by staying within the boundaries of IFSCA. The central government will notify you about it. It will even recommend a few more financial products or financial services and financial institutions listed in the IFSCA.
Which members are included in the IFSCA regulatory entity?
A few of the members who are part of this authority are discussed below:
- Chairperson
- Each member from the institutions of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as well as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Members from Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) are also part of the list.
- Two members are also selected from the department of the Ministry of Finance.
- Any two members are appointed as recommended by the Search Committee.
In this way, nine members are part of the IFSCA entity, all appointed by the central government and the chairperson. All the members are appointed for the tenure of three years, where they can, later on, be part of the list of reappointment.
Who can deal in IFSCA securities?
According to the 2015 Guidelines by SEBI (International Financial Services Centers), only a few people can deal with the securities listed in IFSCA. This includes:
- Any individual who is not a resident in India
- Non-resident Indian
- Any financial institution resident inside India is fully eligible under FEMA to invest the funds offshore within the permitted outward investment.
- Any person resident inside India who is fully eligible under FEMA for investing the funds offshore within the Liberalized Remittance Scheme of Reserve Bank of India. They should be subjected to the minimum investment that the Board has specified with time.
What are the essential benefits of the IFSCA?
Unification or have the integration under a single authority. For example, all the insurance sectors or the banking markets regulated under the IFSC will be unified under IFSCA. This will include different regulators such as RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI.
Apart from that, a single-window regulatory institution will even accelerate the entire development of India’s first IFSC at the GIFT City, Gandhinagar, and in Gujarat.
Many international and national institutions are utilizing the platform of IFSCA for their benefit. This includes all those centres that are into dealings with some international financial services. Their primary purpose is to improve their ease of making some inbound or outbound investments and make the GIFT IFSC the global financial hub.
Responsibilities
- Protecting, promoting, and enhancing India as the prominent international financial services centre.
- It even regulates the proper provision of some essential international financial services.
- Controlling and supervising the Licensed Investment Services Companies and Collective Investment Schemes, investment consultants, and a few of the mutual fund management companies.
- Grant operation license to invest in numerous firms such as investment consultants and brokerage firms or the brokers.
- Also imposes disciplinary penalties or administrative sanctions on the brokers or the investment consultants. This even includes any legal person who is part of the provisions of the Act.
Bottom line
IFSCA is acting as the single authority regulating the products or services of the financial sector. It even regulates all those institutions which are associated with the IFSCA. Therefore, both the international and national level institutions can take the benefit from it by all means. However, only those institutions can utilize the IFSCA platforms that are involved in the financial services.
