Suryaa National Desk: Selection of high-level directors, managing directors of public sector banks, state-owned financial institutions and insurance companies... The Central Government has comprehensively reorganized the Financial Services Institutions Bureau, which oversees the selection of senior directors and managing directors of public sector banks, state-owned financial institutions and insurance companies. Retired IAS officer Subhash Chandra Lal Das (SCL Das), former secretary of the Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department, has been appointed as the new part-time chairman of FSIB by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The appointment will take effect from October 16 and he will hold the post for a period of three years, the official order said. Appointment following expiry of previous chairman's tenure: The top post has been lying vacant since the tenure of long-serving former bureaucrat Bhanu Pratap Sharma as FSIB chairman ended on June 30 this year.
The government has selected retired IAS officer SCL Das of 1992 AGMUT cadre for this post. Das has previously held key responsibilities in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Petroleum Department along with the Union Secretary of MSME. Appointment of six part-time members: The ACC has appointed six experts as part-time members for a period of three years for the selection process of chairman as well as heads of public sector banks, financial institutions and general insurance companies. Arijit Basu, former managing director of State Bank of India, Satish Kashinath Marathe, director of Central Board of Reserve Bank of India, and Ramanathan Subramanian, former executive director of RBI have been appointed as members of the banking and financial institutions panel. Apart from these, insurance industry experts have also been included as other part-time members for the selection of heads of public sector insurance companies.
Importance of FSIB in Banking Sector Governance: This Financial Services Institutions Bureau was set up under the Ministry of Finance in 2022 to replace the earlier Banks Board Bureau. The main responsibility of this bureau is to interview and recommend eligible candidates for the posts of Managing Directors, CEOs, Executive Directors and Non-Executive Chairman in major financial institutions like Public Sector Banks, LIC, NABARD, SIDBI, EXIM Bank. The ACC headed by the Prime Minister takes the final appointment decisions after considering the recommendations made by the FSIB. This new governing body will play a vital role in promoting transparent corporate governance and selecting effective leadership in public sector financial institutions.