Washington, DC
April 29, 2004       

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on April 28, 2004 at Washington, D.C.  CFTC is the Federal Regulator with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States.

The MOU was signed by Mr. G. N. Bajpai, Chairman, SEBI and Mr. James Newsome, Chairman, CFTC.

The MOU aims to strengthen consultation, information sharing and establish a framework for technical assistance and mutual cooperation between the two organizations.

The MOU marks the beginning of greater collaboration between India and the United States to effectively regulate and develop the futures markets, in view of greater cross-border trade and cross-market linkages brought about by the globalisation of financial markets.  This Memorandum of Understanding is a significant step in furthering Indo-US understanding and co-operation.

As an active member of IOSCO, SEBI is committed to ensure fair and orderly development of the securities markets and co-operation with other global regulators.  This is the sixth MOU that the SEBI had signed with its counterparts.  SEBI had earlier signed MOUs with Securities and Exchange Commission, USA and Securities Commission, Malaysia and Financial Services Commission, Mauritius, Securities and Exchange, Sri Lanka and Monetary Authority of Singapore.  SEBI is also one among the first signatories of the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.