SSC
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) works under the administrative control of the:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option D — Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Detailed Solution
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a multi-disciplinary organisation under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs that investigates serious corporate frauds.
Origin:
- The SFIO was set up by a resolution of the Government of India on 2 July 2003.
- It was set up on the recommendation of the Naresh Chandra Committee on corporate governance, after a series of stock market scams and corporate frauds.
Statutory status:
The Companies Act, 2013 gave the SFIO statutory status under Section 211.
Powers of the SFIO:
- It investigates frauds relating to companies, when the Central Government assigns cases to it.
- Cases can be assigned when a company's registrar or inspector reports fraud, when a special resolution is passed by the company, or in the public interest.
- Under the Companies Act, the SFIO has the power to arrest persons in certain cases.
- Once the SFIO takes up a case, no other agency can investigate the same offence under the Companies Act.
Composition:
- It is headed by a Director, usually an officer of the rank of Joint Secretary or above.
- It has experts in accountancy, forensic auditing, banking, law, information technology, investigation, company law, capital markets and taxation.
- This allows it to investigate complex financial frauds.
Headquarters:
Its headquarters is in New Delhi, and it has regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and other cities.
Important cases:
The SFIO has investigated major corporate frauds, such as cases involving non-banking financial companies and large business groups.
Other agencies dealing with economic crimes:
- The Enforcement Directorate (under the Ministry of Finance) deals with money laundering and foreign exchange violations.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation investigates bank frauds and corruption.
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India regulates the securities market.
- The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence deals with smuggling and customs violations.
Why not the other options?
- ✗The Ministry of Finance controls agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate.
- ✗The Ministry of Home Affairs controls internal security agencies.
- ✗The Reserve Bank of India regulates banks.
Quick tip
Remember: SFIO = under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (set up 2003; statutory under Section 211 of the Companies Act, 2013).
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Organisations & Headquarters — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Organisations & Headquarters, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers national and international organisations: the United Nations and its agencies, regional groups such as SAARC, ASEAN and BRICS, global bodies such as the WHO, ILO and UNESCO, and Indian institutions, with their headquarters, founding years, members and heads. Questions typically ask where an organisation is headquartered, when it was founded, or what its full form is. For example, UNESCO is headquartered in Paris and the WHO in Geneva. Membership and leadership change over time, so pair the static facts here with current affairs for recent changes such as new members or new heads. Practise the organisations and headquarters questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.