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The Reserve Bank of India has been awarded the 2012 Dufrenoy Prize for its precautionary approach to the regulation of derivatives market, thus facilitating Financial Innovation in a responsible manner. Shri G Padmanabhan, Executive Director, and Smt. Shyamala Gopinath, former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India received the award in a ceremony held in Paris on June 18, 2012.

Thanking the Observatory for Responsible Innovation – an independent international think tank - for recognizing and appreciating the Reserve Bank “for the very reason it was criticized not so long ago,” Shri Padmanabhan, in his acceptance speech said, “The observations of the honourable jury members about the Indian regulatory approach being precautionary and gradual, with a culture of testing and paying attention to potential negative effects of sophisticated financial products before facilitating them, precisely encapsulates the culture and methodology of  the Reserve Bank of India,  as it seeks to fulfill its mandate - by juggling the multifarious roles assigned to it – of  maintaining  stability of both prices and the financial system and supporting  economic growth.”

Dufrenoy Prize for Responsible Innovation is an annual award instituted by Observatory for Responsible Innovation. The Observatory – a MINES ParisTech Chair and an international independent think tank - has been created with the purpose of thinking and debating new measures, concepts and methods to foster responsibility in innovation. The MINES ParisTech was set up in 1783, and has two Nobel Prize winners among its alumni in the last 25 years, apart from other eminent national and international personalities. Nominations for the Dufrenoy award were invited through the Observatory web-site. A jury of international regulators, former professionals of the financial services industry, academics at the London School of Economics and MINES ParisTech decided to bestow the award for 2012 to the Reserve Bank of India for its outstanding approach of financial regulation.

Background

The Observatory for Responsible Innovation, held its first Annual Conference on “Debating Responsible Innovation in Finance” in Paris on November 30, 2011. The conference was attended by professionals from financial services industry, regulatory bodies, policy institutions and media. Smt. Shyamala Gopinath, former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India was invited to speak at this conference. She spoke on the RBI’s approach to innovation, specifically to regulating OTC derivatives. The Reserve Bank was nominated by the Observatory on the basis of the speech delivered by Smt. Gopinath. 

Alpana Killawala
Chief General Manager

Press Release : 2011-2012/2032