Jignesh Shah, the promoter of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), on Tuesday refused to quit the board of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX).

Shah's FTIL is the holding company of the National Spot Exchange (NSEL), which is under the market regulators' scrutiny for the alleged Rs 5,600-crore scam. Many members of the MCX board have been demanding Shah to resign as part of their efforts to insulate MCX from the ongoing crisis at the NSEL.

However, Shah refused to resign as a permanent director on MCX board, arguing the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had given him two more weeks to reply to a show cause notice that questioned the 'fit & proper' status of FTIL.

Recent amendments in norms by the regulators also made it clear that no shareholder director can continue on a board seat as a permanent director without seeing re-appointment. It means, Shah, would have to seek re-appointment if he wants to stay on the board.

The other two individuals who are also under the regulators' scrutiny have already quit the board of MCX. Joseph Massey withdrew his request for re-appointment before the exchange's annual general meeting (AGM) on September 30 this year. Shrikant Javalgekar submitted his resignation as managing director and chief executive of the company on last Saturday.