The Enforcement Directorate is India’s premier central financial probe agency
The Centre has allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to share information about financial offenders with 15 more agencies, including Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Earlier, the ED used to share its data with 10 agencies.
Origin
The Enforcement Directorate’s origins go back to 1956. The Directorate began on May 1, 1956 in New Delhi (headquarters) as ‘Enforcement Unit, as part of the Department of Economic Affairs for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.
The unit’s name was changed to Enforcement Directorate in 1957. Another branch was opened in Madras (now Chennai).
In 1960, the administrative control of the Directorate was transferred from the Department of Economic Affairs to the Department of Revenue.
What is ED?
The Enforcement Directorate is a multi-disciplinary organisation mandated with the investigation of offences of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.
It is responsible for the enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and certain provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML).
The Directorate is under the administrative control of the Department of Revenue for operational purposes; the policy aspects of the FEMA, its legislation and amendments are within the purview of the Department of Economic Affairs. Policy issues pertaining to the PML Act, however, are the responsibility of the Department of Revenue.
Sanjay Kumar Mishra is the current chief of the Enforcement Directorate. The Directorate has 10 zonal offices, each of which is headed by a Deputy Director, and 11 sub-zonal offices, each of which is headed by an Assistant Director.
The Enforcement Directorate, India’s premier central financial probe agency, has always been in the limelight for probing some of the most high profile cases of the country, involving business houses, top politicians, and industrialists.
SOME OF THE AGENCIES WITH WHOM THE ED CAN SHARE DATA
- Serious Fraud Investigation Office
- Competition Commission of India
- National Investigation Agency
- State Police Department
- Special Investigation Team
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade
- Ministry of External Affairs
- National Investigation Agency
- Central Vigilance Commission
- Military Intelligence directorate
- Central Bureau of Investigation
- National Technical Research Organisation
- Reserve Bank of India
- Securities and Exchange Board of India
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
- Intelligence Bureau Financial Intelligence Unit
- Department of Company Affairs
- Cabinet Secretariat (Research and Analysis Wing)
- Director (Financial Intelligence Unit)
- National Intelligence Grid
- Defence Intelligence Agency
Picture Credit : Google
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