Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged financial sector regulators and other stakeholders to expedite the refund of unclaimed assets to their rightful owners. These include bank deposits, dividends, shares, post office savings, insurance proceeds and pension funds. Ms Sitharaman stated this while chairing the 30th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in New Delhi yesterday. Ms Sitharaman also called for simplifying Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and strengthening cybersecurity preparedness amid rising geopolitical uncertainties.

 

The Council reviewed efforts under the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ campaign, which aims to facilitate the return of unclaimed financial assets to their rightful owners. It urged the concerned ministries and regulators to intensify their efforts to ensure timely refunds. The Council also deliberated on issues relating to macroeconomic and financial stability, as well as the country’s preparedness to address emerging challenges. Discussions included measures to promote innovation in the fintech sector and explore the potential of tokenisation of financial assets and other real-world assets.

 

According to the Finance Ministry, the meeting also reviewed the country’s preparedness to protect critical information infrastructure, strengthen the resilience of security systems and enhance cybersecurity preparedness among Regional Rural Banks.

 

In view of growing geopolitical challenges and global uncertainties, the Finance Minister called for more frequent meetings of the Council according to a predefined schedule.

 

The meeting was attended by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Chief Economic Adviser Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology S. Krishnan, and other senior officials.