S Raman, the former chairman and managing director of Canara Bank who joined the Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) as a whole-time member last month, will have to hit the ground running. He has been entrusted with key departments of investment management, enforcement, enquiry and adjudication departments and RTI-Appellate authority.
The investment management department, which is among the crucial departments of the market regulator, looks after foreign institutional investors, mutual funds and collective investment schemes. Raman's previous experience in handling Indian and overseas capital market will come in handy here.
A veteran of the banking industry, Raman started his career with Bank of India in 1974, and over the years gained expertise in corporate credit, international banking and human resources. He also has also worked overseas as chief executive of Bank of India’s US operations
Before taking charge at Canara Bank in September 2010, Raman was the executive director of Union Bank of India, where he looked after portfolios like treasury and transaction banking. He had retired from Canara Bank in September 2012.
In his new job, he will have to give special attention to the mutual fund industry, which has struggled to grow its assets after the ban on entry load — an initial fee that funds charge investors to pay distributors. Though the regulator has introduced changes such as higher expense ratio for penetration beyond top 15 cities and direct plan for all schemes, more efforts would be required to popularise mutual funds across the country. Raman’s experience as chairman and associate director of Canara Rebeco AMC is expected to help him in this task.
During his tenure, the foreign institutional investment regulations are likely to be tweaked as Sebi is planning to bring all investment routes for foreign investors into one.