At least two of the four current Whole-Time Members at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have applied for its top post upon the expiry of the term of current chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, said two people familiar with the matter.
Incumbent Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch’s term will come to an end on February 28. Buch was appointed in March 2022 for three years and was the first woman to be appointed as SEBI chief.
The two WTMs, who have applied for the top job include Ashwani Bhatia and Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, sources said.
Bhatia looks at the corporate finance, debt and hybrid securities and corporate finance investigation departments, among others. Bhatia, the former Managing Director of the State Bank of India, was appointed WTM in March 2022 for three years. He is also the erstwhile Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SBI Mutual Fund.
Kamlesh Chandra Varshney, Whole-Time Member, SEBI
Varshney oversees legal affairs, market intermediaries regulation and supervision and integrated surveillance departments. Varshney, a 1990-batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service, was a joint secretary at the revenue department in the Finance Ministry.
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“There is no restriction on a WTM becoming the Chairperson of SEBI. However, apart from the current Chairperson, no other individual, has been appointed as Chairperson immediately after completing their tenure as a WTM,” said Sumit Agrawal, Senior Partner, Regstreet Law Advisors & former SEBI Officer.
An email sent to SEBI did not get a response.
The government had floated an advertisement last month, inviting applications from eligible candidates for the post of SEBI Chair. Applications have to be sent by February 17.
Buch, a former executive director of ICICI Bank, found herself in the spotlight last year after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged that she had a conflict of interest in investigating the Adani Group matter and that she and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. Buch, for her part, subsequently made a point-by-point rebuttal to these allegations, insisting that she had made “relevant disclosures” from time to time and recused herself in matters involving any conflict of interest.
Sources believe that Buch is on her way out and will be replaced by a new SEBI chief soon, most likely a bureaucrat.
According to current norms, the Chairperson must meet four key criteria: ability, integrity, and standing, along with demonstrated capacity in addressing securities market issues or possess specialized knowledge or experience in a discipline deemed useful to SEBI by the Ministry of Finance, said Agrawal.