Bill to Allow Options Trading, Commodity Derivatives Introduced

The Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday a new bill that would allow trading in options in goods and would likely lead to the development of new commodity derivatives that will provide a wider set of opportunities to investors for risk management.

The bill would also restructure the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) into an autonomous commodity regulator.

Currently, FMC is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The bill also would increase the maximum number of members in the FMC to nine, up from the existing four members. Three would be full-time members, and one would function as the chairman.

Of the nine members, one would be from the Reserve Bank of India, two members from the ministries or departments of the central government dealing with consumer affairs, commodity derivatives, food and public distribution, agriculture or finance.
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