29th FSDC Meet
FSDC to work on easing KYC norms, expediting refunds of unclaimed assets
This story was originally published at 20:22 IST on 10 June 2025
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--Govt: Sitharaman tells regulators to expedite refund of unclaimed assets
--CONTEXT: Finance Minister Sitharaman chaired 29th meeting of FSDC Tuesday
--Govt: Sitharaman bats for common KYC norms, digitisation of KYC processes
--Govt:FSDC stressed for need to be vigilant in current global macro context
--Govt: FSDC sees need for efforts to mitigate risks to fincl stability
NEW DELHI – The Financial Stability and Development Council has decided to formulate a strategy and work on prescribing common Know-Your-Customer norms and digitisation of KYC processes, including digital onboarding of non-resident Indians in domestic securities market, the finance ministry said in a release after the 29th meeting of the committee comprising the finance ministry and top financial regulators.
The government, the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have been working on simplifying KYC processes and streamlining them into centralised common norms but so far the process has seen limited success. In the 28th meeting of the Council as well, the top committee with all financial sector regulators had discussed this issue.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who chaired the meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday, told regulators to take "proactive steps for seamless KYC processes across the financial sector to enhance user experience", the ministry said.
Sitharaman also urged financial regulators to take necessary steps to reduce the amount of unclaimed assets in the financial sector including banks deposits, dividends, shares, post office accounts, insurance and pension funds, and expedite the refund of such assets to the rightful owners, according to the release.
The matter of unclaimed assets has been a long-pending issue in the Indian financial sector and in Tuesday's meeting, the Council discussed strategies to resolve the issue. "Sitharaman also emphasised that interest of common citizens to be kept in mind and therefore expeditiously refund the claims of the rightful claimants," according to the release.
The Council also discussed ways to implement the earlier decision of analysing trends in financing flows as part of its strategy to increase investment ratio, the release added. It took note of the activities undertaken by the Council's sub-committee chaired by the RBI governor and the action taken by members on its pending past decisions.
The Financial Stability and Development Council, constituted in 2010, deals with issues relating to financial stability, financial sector development, inter–regulatory coordination, and financial literacy.
Beyond startegies to implement past decisions, the Council deliberated on issues related to macro financial stability and India's preparedness to deal with them. The Council stressed upon the need to be vigilant in the current global economic context, the ministry said. "The Council recognised the need for proactive efforts to mitigate potential risks to financial stability while adopting adequate safeguards for the financial system's resilience," it added.
In light of an analysis of cybersecurity regulations, sectoral preparedness, and the recommendations of Financial Sector Assessment Programme 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), the Council Tuesday considered strengthening the cyber resilience framework of the Indian financial sector through a sector-specific cybersecurity strategy. The Financial Sector Assessment Program is a joint programme of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and undertakes a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of a country's financial sector.
Tuesday's meeting was attended by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, SEBI Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Finance Secretary Ajay Seth, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju, Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava, Ministry of Corporate Affairs Secretary Deepti Gaur Mukerjee, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran, International Financial Services Centres Authority Chairman K. Rajaraman, Member of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India Parmod Kumar Arora, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Whole-Time Member (Economics) Mamta Shankar, Whole-Time Member of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India Bhushan Kumar Sinha, Director General of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team Sanjay Bahl, and Secretary of the Council Chanchal Sarkar.
The Council will further strengthen inter-regulatory coordination for wider development of financial sector in India, the ministry said in the release. End
Reported by Priyasmita Dutta
Edited by Tanima Banerjee
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