In a significant move, the government on Saturday said commodities market watchdog FMC will be merged with the capital market regulator Sebi.

After emergence of a major crisis at National Spot Exchange Ltd, the Forward Markets Commission was last year moved to the Finance Ministry.

Presenting his maiden full-fledged Budget on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would merge FMC with Sebi.

The proposed merger would help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations, he added.

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To implement the merger, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act as well as Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act (FCRA) would need amendments.

The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) had recommended that Sebi, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC should be merged into a single entity into a unified financial agency.

In September 2013, FMC was brought under the Finance Ministry.

The move came in the wake of the Rs 5,600-crore (Rs 56-billion) payment crisis at National Spot Exchange Ltd.

Earlier, FMC was with the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Image: Traders at work at a stock exchange in Mumbai. Photograph: Reuters

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