TASK FORCE ON OFFSHORE RUPEE MARKETS

About:

• Background: The Task Force was set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in February 2019.
  
  
• Chairman: Usha Thorat, former Deputy Governor, RBI.
  
  
• Mandate: To examine the issues relating to the offshore Rupee markets in depth and recommend appropriate policy measures.
  
  

Key recommendations of the Task Force are:

• To extend onshore market hours to improve access of overseas users.
  
  
• To permit Indian banks to freely offer prices to global clients around the clock.
  
  
• To enable Rupee derivatives (settled in foreign currency), to be traded in the International Financial Services Centers (IFSC) in India, to begin with on exchanges in the IFSC.
  
  
• To allow users to undertake forex transactions up to USD 100 million in OTC currency derivative market without the need to establish underlying exposure.
  
  
• To facilitate non-residents to hedge their foreign exchange exposure onshore by:
  • Establishing a central clearing and settlement mechanism for non-resident transactions in the onshore market;
    
    
  • Implementing margin requirement for non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives and allowing Indian banks to post margins abroad;
    
    
  • Aligning the tax treatment of foreign exchange derivatives with that in major international centres; and
    
    
  • Centralising the KYC requirements across financial markets with uniform documentation requirement.