Sebi signs MoU with Belarus to enhance investor protection

Capital markets regulator Sebi said on Thursday it has inked a MoU with Belarus' Finance Ministry for enhancing investor protection and creating effective securities markets in both the countries.

The pact will help in "promoting further development of economic links and cooperation between the two signatories and aims at enhancing investor protection and creating conditions for an effective development of securities markets in the two countries."

"Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus signed a MoU on bilateral cooperation," the regulator said in a statement.

The agreement was signed by Sebi's Whole Time Member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal and the eastern European country's Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin at Minsk (Belarus).

The pact was inked in the presence of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and President of Belarus Alexander V Lukashenko.

Also, Mukherjee invited Belarusian investors to the country in a bid to increase bilateral trade to USD 1 billion by 2020. Bilateral trade between India and Belarus was about USD 400 million in 2014.

In the past, Sebi has signed bilateral pacts with a number of countries. India is a signatory to multilateral MoU of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

In order to encourage the exchange of information and assistance, Sebi has been signing pacts with the jurisdictions who are yet to become a signatory to the multilateral MoU of IOSCO.