Chairperson

As the first chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), established under the IFSCA Act 2019, it shall be my continuous endeavour to proactively interact with all stakeholders with a view to creating the most appropriate regulatory framework and underlying ecosystem for establishing the international financial services centre in India as a preferred destination for raising capital, trading in various types of financial products and availing of all international financial services.

In today's world of globalisation, global capital acts as an important driver of economic growth and development wherever global investment opportunities exist. The setting up of the IFSC in India is aimed at tapping global capital flows to meet India’s development needs and simultaneously provide a globally competitive financial platform for the full range of international financial services at the regional and global level.

The IFSCA is a unified authority for development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the international financial services centre in India in the areas of banking, insurance, securities and funds management. We at IFSCA are committed to providing a comprehensive and consistent regulatory framework based on global best practices with a special focus on ease of doing business. As a unified regulator we are committed to ensuring financial stability and protecting the interests of investors. At the same time, we would like to allow enough space for financial innovations with adequate risk management measures in place. We are also committed to ensuring that regulatory environment is fully FATF compliant with strong enforcement AML and CFT measures in place.

The immediate priority areas identified by us include listing of equity and debt instruments for raising capital as well as secondary trading (including derivative trading), non-deliverable forwards in INR-foreign currency, hub for all types of investment funds, aircraft leasing and financing, international bullion exchange, FinTech hub, etc.

IFSCA is in the process of obtaining membership in premier international forums of financial regulators. We are equally keen to enter into bilateral MoUs with our counterparts across the world. I take this opportunity to welcome potential participants to set up their business in the IFSC in India and assure them full support of IFSCA in terms of time bound processing of applications, positive regulatory environment and ease of business.

Shri K. Rajaraman belongs to the 1989 batch of Indian Administrative Service (Tamil Nadu cadre) and has assumed the responsibility of the Chairperson of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) after serving for nearly 35 years in various leadership roles in Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu. Prior to joining the IFSCA, he served as the Secretary to Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications. He is a B.Tech Graduate in Electronics & Communications, a first-class MBA and Master of Economics.

Starting his career as a Design Engineer in BHEL, Trichy, during his rich and varied experience as an IAS Officer, he had held various administrative positions in the areas of Investment Promotion, Foreign Direct Investment, Public Sector Undertakings, Industrial Infrastructure, VAT Administration, etc. He was MD of Chennai Metro Railways for nearly 4 years during its early construction phase, Commissioner for Commercial Taxes in Government of Tamil Nadu, and Joint Secretary Expenditure in Government of India. He also served as Additional Secretary, Investment, IER and Administration in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.